The Last
by Lady Moonglow
Summary: HHR Hermione finds out she's an elite pureblood and undergoes HUGE changes! Returning as the gorgeous DADA professor, she immediately attracts Harry's attention. An antiUmbridge club, a hot new professor, a dark secret...will she survive? discontinued
1. The Last Goodbye

**The Last**

**Disclaimer**: I am not the amazing and original JK Rowling, so I sadly do not own Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Draco, Umbridge or anyone else you recognize. Alec, when you meet him, is all mine, and I absolutely _love_ his character!

**SuperSummary**: After fourth year ends and Hermione finds out she is from one of the most elite wizarding families in the world, she disappears, opting to live in the Muggle world rather than running the risk of staying in the wizarding one. Five years later, however, Hermione returns to a new though not improved Hogwarts as Lady Devia Delaveger and teams up with "Sev" and other new, young professors to completely clash with the much-loathed Headmistress Umbridge. Something Hermione (Devia) _didn't_ count on, however, was how the Second War would completely halt education at Hogwarts for two entire years, and how she now has to teach Harry, Ron, Ginny, Draco, and co. their final year of Defense Against the Dark Arts! Everyone she once had known, including herself, is so different, and no one at Hogwarts recognizes her as Hermione. But as Hermione wins back her friends' trust, she discovers there was something _much_ deeper than she ever realized to her and Harry's fourth year relationship. Hermione/Harry with a dash of Ginny/Draco. Slight AU beginning in Fourth Year.

**Prologue**

_The day Hermione Granger left her fourth year of Hogwarts was the day her life changed forever. _

_She spent the train ride as she usually did, obsessing mercilessly over the rapidly approaching and much-feared OWLS, sweating bullets over the five foot long potions summer assignment, fussing over Harry and Ron's disorganization, impatiently jamming a frizz of unruly shoulder-length light brown hair behind one ear, the rest flying out behind her….._

_Off the train, a run in with Draco Malfoy and his entourage—"Out of the way, you stupid mudblood!"— and the tears came, and Harry's fist connected with Malfoy's perfectly pointed face, while she sobbed into Ron's comforting arm….._

_Then off to the platform after Ron's awkward pat on the shoulder and Harry's crushing hug—"I'm so sorry, Mione."_

"_Oh, Harry, don't be sorry, it wasn't _your_ fault!" Hermione said firmly, quickly swiping at her eyes. "_You_ stay out of trouble. Merlin knows you need to more than I do. Good-bye, Harry...Write!" And his emerald green pools twinkled at her warm, strange blend of earthy brown and amethyst ones, and she gave him a friendly smile in return…. But this is not the story of Hermione Devía Granger: bookworm, sidekick, and muggleborn witch. This is the narrative of the woman that she became, Devía Hermione Delaveger: classy, brilliant, and in a _completely_ separate league of her own. _

A/N What do you think? Reviews will make my day:-) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	2. Hello, Goodbye

**Bold is Devia's (Hermione's) thoughts:-)**

You say yes, I say no

You say stop and I say go, go, go

Oh, no

You say goodbye and I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

I say high, you say low

You say why, and I say I don't know

Oh, no

You say goodbye and I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

Why, why, why, why, why, why

Do you say good bye

Goodbye, bye, bye, bye, bye

Oh, no

You say goodbye and I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

Hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye

I say hello

hello, hello

I don't know why you say goodbye I say hello

Hello

-The Beatles, _Hello, Goodbye_

_Five Years Later_

Dolores Umbridge sat primly in the Hogwarts Head's office, pink bow firmly perched atop her frizzed, short hair. Her dull, frog-like eyes narrowed in suspicion as, far across the room, the doorknob rustled. The door popped open and a young woman coolly entered.

Umbridge paused, crimson poofy quill in hand, before smiling in a sickly sweet way. "Can I help you?"

The petite, sun streaked, apple cinnamon haired girl blinked at Umbridge and raised an eyebrow, tossing her long, sleek light brown and golden waves over her shoulder, but the motion disappeared so quickly Umbridge dismissed it. "Yes, I believe you can," the girl said, imitating Umbridge's wide, wining smile. "I hear you're in need of a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

"An American, are you?" Umbridge cooed at her strong accent.

"Partially in spirit, but that's about it."

Umbridge pressed her lips together. "Applicants must be legal adults."

"Oh, but I am. Nineteen years old, you know. Over it by two years." **And you're going to be desperate because Winter Break ends in four days. **The teen dropped a stack of parchment on the desk.

Umbridge merely stretched her mouth wider. "Then you are still old enough to be a student at this institution. As such, I must regretfully deny your request." She pushed the pile back toward the intruder, not at all appearing to be sorry.

Instead of being perturbed, however, the girl coolly folded herself into a chair across the desk from Umbridge. "Student?"

Umbridge smiled more broadly at the teen's ignorance. "Yes dear, _student_. The war disrupted two full years of the children's education. Those who were fifth years at its beginning must finish their sixth and seventh years as eighteen and nineteen year olds, forming a temporary, added house: the Upperclassmen. (A/N: That means Ginny, Harry, Ron and co. are Upperclassmen.) The youngest professor here, my daughter, is twenty, and that is my minimum age for work."

A small smirk emerged on the girl's face, and she fixed her piercing amethyst gaze on Umbridge's toady face. "In any case, I suggest you review my application." She paused dramatically, her smirk growing to the right side. "It _would_ be to your…best interests."

"Would it really?" Umbridge, feigned smile not fading, pulled the resume toward her without really looking at it. "And who are you to tell me what my best interests are, hmmmmmm?"

The violet-eyed girl had still not broken eye contact, and Umbridge, now unnerved, repeated loudly, "What is your _name_, girl?"

She leaned across the desk toward Umbridge, smirk transforming to a smile, as if Umbridge's slight breakdown had been exactly what she was aiming for. "My name is Lady Devía Hermione Delaveger."

"_Ka-swwwt_!"

Umbridge choked –(**Probably on her own spit**, thought Devía)— before composing herself and giving Devía an 'ah-I-see-you-are-one-of-those-imposters' smile. "Del…Delaveger? That is rather absurd, dear, _quite_ absurd."

Devía sat back imperially in her seat, seeming more the part of Head than Umbridge. "Are you calling me a _liar_, Headmistress?"

Umbridge's sneer faltered at Devía's calm aura of confidence, herself taking on the air of one caught between a rock and a hard place. "Er….um, well… humph…."

"Of course you are, and I understand why," Devía continued smoothly. "But, you see, I _am_ a Delaveger, the _last_ Delaveger, and I can prove it." Devía placed a large leather-bound book with extravagant, engraved décor and an exquisite _delta_ symbol etched in gold across its cover, more pure gold vines wound tightly around the volume. "I already have."

"The Delaveger Ancestral Crest," Umbridge whispered, awe shining through her façade in spite of herself.

"Very good, Headmistress, you passed History of Magic." Devía delicately rested her hand on top of the aged jacket. "And, if you will again return to that classroom, you will recall that only Delaveger blood can open it."

With a click, the golden vines slowly uncoiled themselves from the book. Devía flipped it open, just as quickly snapping it shut and sweeping up her papers. "But, apparently you don't find me capable as a qualified instructor, and I must respect your decision. Good day, Headmistress."

"Er….har-rumph." Umbridge's greedy eyes soured, and she lugged herself from her seat as Devía expertly swirled her robes in her dramatic exit. "Ha-_rumph_…about that position, Lady Delaveger…."

A sly smile lit Devía's face, which promptly melted as she turned innocently to face Umbridge. "Yes?"

Umbridge cleared her throat once more and importantly drew herself to her full height, more the size of a miniscule bush. "Hogwarts would be _delighted_ to welcome you as Defense professor."

"Oh, the feeling is mutual, Headmistress." This time Devía didn't bother to hide her triumph. "_Very_ mutual."

A/N Happy New Year and Merry Christmas a few days late; lots of reviews would be great:-)

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	3. The Last Delaveger

A/N Just to clear up any confusion---Devía IS Hermione. She goes more by the name Devía now because that has been her name for the past 5 years. Hermione/Devía looks a little different because she is a Delaveger, but stick with me on the name change! It'll all work out in the end, I promise! Inside she is still the same Hermione that we all know and love. With a bit more worldly experience, of course.

Look at me,

You may think you see who I really am

But you'll never know me

Everyday, it's as if I play a part

Now I see, if I wear a mask

I can fool the world

But I cannot fool my heart

Who is that girl I see staring straight back at me?

When will my reflection show who I am inside?

I am now in a world where I have to hide my heart,

And what I believe in.

But somehow I will show the world what's inside my heart

And be loved for who I am.

Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me.

Why is my reflection someone I don't know?

Must I pretend that I'm someone else for all time?

When will my reflection show who I am inside?

There's a heart that must be free to fly,

That burns with the need to know the reason why.

Why must we all conceal

What we think,

How we feel?

Must there be a secret me I'm forced to hide?

I won't pretend that I'm someone else for all time.

When will my reflection show who I am inside?

When will my reflection show who I am inside?

-Christina Aguilera, _Reflection_

_On the morning of her fifteenth birthday, Hermione's alarm clock forgot to go off. By the time she dragged herself out of bed, the light was streaming through her windows, lighting every inch of her room._

"Ugggh_, OWLS must be catching up to me." Feeling like she got run over by the Hogwarts Express, Hermione stumbled over to her bureau alongside the magical mirror she had owned for as long as she could remember. _

"_LOVE! You look positively _smashing_ this morning."_

_  
"Look," Hermione growled, slamming her bureau drawer closed with a T-shirt in hand, glaring savagely at the Mirror, "I have put up with your positively _tasteless_ comments for YEARS, and I have had ENOUG—"_

_A tall, lean girl that shared Hermione's face but possessed a sleek mix of gold and brown hair and enthralling amethyst eyes glared back at her._

_Hermione screamed._

………..

"_Hermione, dear."_

_The tone of her mother's voice scared Hermione, scared her more than her slightly altered appearance, as did the tense atmosphere that now filled the Granger living room and a foreboding knot formed in her stomach._

"_We love you, sweetie, know that we have always loved you. As our own daughter."_

"_Mum, you know I love you too…" Suddenly Hermione frowned. "What do you mean? I _am_ your own daughter!"_

_Her mother choked back a sob and her father put a comforting arm around her. "That's just it, love…" The man Hermione had adored for as long as she could remember looked deeply troubled. The knot moved to her throat. _

"_We adopted you when you were six months old. Accepted you, really. Your wizarding name is Devía Hermione Delaveger."_

_Hermione's mouth was dry and itchy, and she felt like the Hogwarts Express had returned for Round Two. "But….but…." _

_For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was at a loss for words._

_Her mother tearfully took up the narrative. "You were brought to us. The adoption agency said you and your mirror were left with them courtesy of a man called Severus Snape."_


	4. Ironic

A/N: Hermione/Devía comes to Hogwarts right after the Christmas break of Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Upperclassmen's Seventh Year, or Ninth Year, I guess you could call it. Also, the main ship will be Harry/Hermione with a side of Ginny/Draco. I have never really been a believer of fast-moving romances with Harry, what with all he has been through and whatnot. Plus, he doesn't know Devía is Hermione, and Devía (Hermione) is also a teacher, so……..Enjoy the ride!

An old man turned ninety-eight

He won the lottery and died the next day

It´s a black fly in your Chardonnay

It´s a death row pardon two minutes too late

Isn´t it ironic . . . don´t you think

It´s like rain on your wedding day

It´s a free ride when you´ve already paid

It´s the good advice that you just didn´t take

Who would ´ve thought . . . it figures

Mr. Play It Safe was afraid to fly

He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye

He waited his whole damn life to take that flight

And as the plane crashed down he thought

Well isn´t this nice . . .

And isn´t it ironic . . . don´t you think

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

When you think everything´s okay and everything´s going right

And life has a funny way of helping you out when

You think everything´s gone wrong and everything blows up

In your face

A traffic jam when you´re already late

A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break

It´s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife

It´s meeting the man of my dreams

And then meeting his beautiful wife

And isn´t it ironic . . . don´t you think

A little too ironic . . . and yeah I really do think . . .

It´s like rain on your wedding day

It´s a free ride when you´ve already paid

It´s the good advice that you just didn´t take

Who would ´ve thought . . . it figures

Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out

Helping you out

-Alanis Morissette, _Ironic_

**Last time: **A sly smile lit Devía's face, which promptly melted as she turned innocently to face Umbridge. "Yes?"

Umbridge cleared her throat once more and importantly drew herself to her full height, more the size of a miniscule bush. "Hogwarts would be _delighted_ to welcome you as Defense professor."

"Oh, the feeling is mutual, Headmistress." This time Devía didn't bother to hide her triumph. "_Very_ mutual."……………..

_Her mother tearfully took up the narrative. "You were brought to us. The adoption agency said you and your mirror were left with them courtesy of a man called Severus Snape."_

**Chapter 2**

Professor Severus Snape hurried professionally down a first floor corridor leading into the depths of Hogwarts, muttering darkly, "Damn new heads, in constant need of training…"

"Ah, you must be Professor Snape," a smooth, harmonic voice called from the front of his dungeon classroom, rising to meet him and holding out a slender hand.

Snape froze and momentarily stared, entranced, at the haunting lilac eyes and dangerously beautiful smile on the woman's face, nearly stumbling into a desk behind him, gasping "Aría," faintly.

She saw the color drain from his face. "No, I'm Devía…I'm her daughter," she said quickly, awkwardly.

Snape seemed to snap out of it and grasped her hand tightly, shaking it. "Forgive me. Your resemblance to her is slightly unsettling."

"I understand; I've gotten that a lot this week."

Snape almost lost himself in that familiar voice before gesturing toward his desk. "Do have a seat, Lady Delaveger."

Devía laughed as she collapsed across from him. "Please, call me Devía. I don't know who Lady Delaveger is yet."

Snape nodded agreeably. "Quite understandable." He matter-of-factly straightened a stack of parchment on his desk. "It is also, may I add, rather impressive that you have been appointed not only Defense Against the Dark Arts professor but also head of"— his lip curled—"the Upperclassmen."

"And I can tell you absolutely _adore_ them." Devía held back a smirk. "Apparently my name opens more doors than my experience."

Snape coughed in a strangled way that remotely resembled the word, _Potter_!. "The power of a name does have the ability to cause that effect."

"Surprised Umbridge would be suckered into that game, though."

"Oh, she would do anything to better her imperial position with that idiot Fudge—" Snape bit his tongue halfway through his sentence, fearing he had said too much, and eyed Devía suspiciously.

Devía guessed his reasoning and laughed, a light musical tingling that embodied anything warm and cheerful. "My dear professor Snape, both of my parents died fighting for the Light. Do you really think I'm going to suck up to that self-absorbed toad?"

Snape actually smiled at the mix of humor and venom in her words. "With the way this school runs, I can never take too many precautions."

"Well, now that the truth is out—no, I don't like Umbridge either—would you mind commencing the meeting? Second term begins tomorrow and I still have to go home and pack." Devía wondered if she was pushing her bold comments too far, particularly with Snape, but was shocked when Snape simply placed another gigantic pile of parchment on the desk. "Yes, I have a life as well. Let's finish this. Since you're coming in the middle of the year, you'll have a bit of a break before the gauntlet toward exams."

"Thank you for fitting me in on such short notice, by the way," Devía said absently, leafing through the papers. "I really do appreciate it."

Snape waved his hand dismissively. "Now, Devía, what is your teaching experience?"

**Oh my God, he actually didn't address someone young enough to be a student as 'Miss.' Somebody get the man an award.** "None. Nor with my education. I was self-taught."

Snape sat back in surprise. "You taught _yourself_ to correctly perform all twenty basic instructional defense spells?"

"I got the job, didn't I? Umbridge may be a crowd-pleaser but she wouldn't let me swing in without sticking a few trees in my way."

With a small smirk, Snape and Devía began wading through the forms and instructions for Head of the Upperclassmen House, Devía guiltily beginning to appreciate everything McGonagall had done for them. **Were that woman here I would **never** giver her flak again. Not like I ever did before, really, more like Ron and Harry…**

Nearly an hour later and with the end finally in sight, Devía pushed back in her chair. "How did you know her?"

Snape shifted his gaze up from the current scroll, not moving his head. "Of whom are you speaking?"

"My mother."

Snape returned to reading. "Perhaps I came across the name in the papers. Only a troll in a cave wouldn't have known the name Delaveger."

"Reading about her wouldn't have caused you to nearly pass out and gasp, 'Aría!' like she was some long lost love." **Crap.** The moment Devía finished imitating Snape's voice she prayed the words that had just left her mouth were wrong.

Snape glared at her. "Perhaps I was…what do the Muggles call it?… Perhaps I was a stalker."

Devía practically died holding back a splutter. For a minute she almost considered the possibility. "Don't play games with me, Sev."

Snape jerked and abandoned the latest parchment. "_What_ did you—"

"I called you Sev, and stop avoiding the question."

Snape decided not to mention that Aría Delaveger had also been quite insistent on calling him _Sev_. "I worked with your parents during the first war," he finally grunted. "Went to school with them. Good people."

**Wow, they really must've been saints for Severus Snape to call them good people.** Devía smiled slightly, nodding. "That's always good to hear."

Snape's face now held an expression of utmost curiosity. And Hermione during her four long years of Hogwarts had never seen Snape with anything other than a sneer. "If I'm not intruding, the entire wizarding world thought the Delaveger line vanished eighteen years ago. Where have you been hiding?"

Devía weighed the question. "Fair enough. My adopted parents raised me. Muggles, as you know," she added shrewdly, "since it was you who dropped me off at the Muggle adoption agency."

Snape snapped his eyes to her twinkling amethyst ones. "Nothing gets past you, I see."

"I try."

Sighing, Snape started uncomfortably at the door, as if wishing someone would walk through it. "Your parents' last wish. They knew their days were numbered."

Fiddling with her wand thoughtfully, realizing this was a subject for a later, deeper conversation, Devía finally smiled at him. "Thanks, Sev. Really. I know my parents appreciate what you did as much as I do." She paused. "And I definitely do. But back to your original question. I didn't know I was a witch until I was eleven. I didn't even know I was Devía Delaveger until I was fourteen. Around that time certain…changes occurred, and I knew."

"Why didn't you come back to the wizarding world? You, being the heiress to the _largest_ family fortune in England—You _do_ know that, don't you?"

"Yes, Sev, I do." Devía's face shone with memories. "I had a good life. I was happy." She sighed. "I _loved_ my life. I wouldn't have given it up for all the money and fame in the world. I _never_ wanted it," she whispered, but quickly brightened and continued briskly, "Of course, I still learned everything I could about this world, all the spells and such, took myself through the standard seven-year education."

Snape's eyebrow rose. "If you were following the news, though, didn't you hear of the war? Did it ever occur to you we might have needed your help?"

Sev's other eyebrow shot up, however, as Devía's enchanting eyes clouded and darkened in record speed, and she whispered, "I had my own war to fight."

Immediately the dark storm in her subsided as quickly as it had arrived, and she smiled brightly. "But you did just fine without me, and in the end I figured everybody gets a chance to start over and here I am."

'_Start over from what?'_ "Looking forward to meeting others your age?" Sev asked, feeling an odd parental concern for the teenager.

"You mean, my _students_? Yes, I suppose." Devía grinned wickedly. "It'll be fun to have points power, at least."

"Have you met Professor Wood? He's far closer to your age than the rest of the instructors here. Besides the Umbridge runt, but we can't have you associating with her. Merlin knows _what_ she would run off and tell her mother."

"_Oliver_ Wood?" Devía asked, surprised, easily remembering the adorable Scottish Quiddich captain.

Snape narrowed his eyes in a way that clearly asked, _How_ did you know that? "I wasn't aware you are also a Seer."

**Whoops**. Thinking fast, Devía covered with another laid-back grin. "I can't _believe_ he's teaching here! That redneck never told me he was magical!" She laughed. "Of course, sometimes I could barely tell he was human…"

"I'm afraid you may have the wrong Oliver Wood," Sev said. Devía feigned confusion. "No, no, Oliver Wood. Long black hair, southern accent, a particular fondness for body piercings—"

"Yes, most definitely the wrong Wood," Snape said quickly. Devía had to fight back a laugh, especially when Sev grimaced as she uttered the word 'piercings.' **I should get an award for that**.

"Well, thank _God_ it's not him, he _always_ freaked me out. I guess I'm gonna have to look this Oliver Wood up."

Sev's face twisted and seemed on the verge of smiling at her slang.

**I am amazing**.

Devía figured he had long forgotten her original outburst. She grinned and checked the timepiece on his desk. "Lordy, lordy, its 6:40! I have to run!"

Snape couldn't hold in the smile at her last rhyme, and she laughed with him as he said, "Well, Lady Delaveger, it's been a pleasure."

"I _told_ you to call me Devía, _dammit_!" The striking blonette exclaimed peevishly. "And yes, I must agree, going through the 100 foot stack of teacher's rules has been _quite_ entertaining. Let's get together sometime and do it again."

Snape chuckled. He felt a certain fondness toward the independent girl, one unlike any other connection he had, if ever, felt with a student. So fatherly. "Very well, _Lady_ Delaveger—"

"Ah-_ha_!" Devía yipped, shaking a finger at him threateningly. "Unh-uh! Don't you _even_ finish that or I'll call you Sev _forever_…." She leaned menacingly across his desk, "_even_ in public…"

"Ooooo," Sev said in amusement, and Devía rolled her eyes while gathering her papers with one swipe. She made to leave, but then swiveled back to the desk, placing both hands on it. "This isn't over, you know," she growled in a playfully threatening voice, but Sev found that, after twenty years of mirthless existence, tat once he began to laugh, he could not stop.

Devía smiled. "We'll finish this chat another day."

Still chuckling, Sev could only wave her away.

A/N Once again, Happy New Year and Merry Christmas a few days late; lots of reviews would be great:-) Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	5. The Last Hermione

**A/N **For this story's purposes only, pretend Cho is in the same year as Hermione and co. Thanks!

Grew up in a small town

And when the rain would fall down

I'd just stare out my window

Dreamin' of what could be

And if I'd end up happy

I would pray

Trying hard to reach out

But, when I tried to speak out

Felt like no one could hear me

Wanted to belong here

But something felt so wrong here

So I prayed I could break away.

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly

I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky

And I'll make a wish, take a chance, make a change

And break away

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But, I won't forget the ones that I love

I'll take a risk, take a chance, make a change

And break away

Wanna feel the warm breeze

Sleep under a palm tree

Feel the rush of the ocean

Get on board a fast train

Travel on a jetplane, far away

And break away

Buildings with a hundred floors

Swinging round revolving doors

Maybe I don't know where they'll take me

But, gotta keep moving on, moving on

Fly away, break away

I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly

Though its not easy to tell you goodbye, gotta

Take a risk, take a chance, make a change

And break away

Out of the darkness and into the sun

But, I won't forget of the place I come from

I gotta take a risk, take a chance, make a change

And break away

Breakaway

Breakaway

-Kelly Clarkson, _Breakaway_

"_Hermione, darling, this is the last time I'll ask you: are you sure you want to go through with this?" _

_Hermione blinked back tears. "Yes, daddy," she whispered, her arms wrapped tightly around her father. "I can't go back. Not now, not with Him back. It's too much of a risk. It's safer here; he'll never think to look for a Delaveger with Muggles. And…." Her voice cracked, the voice that came from her mouth but did not really sound like her. "I don't even know who I am anymore." The roar of the hundreds of passers-by hollowly rang in her ears as she took a shaky breath and stepped away from her father. "Where are they?"_

_Her father nudged her gently toward the two-story wall of glass along one side of the airport. "Jack and Josslyn Leon. Right there, with the redhead, Liz, I think her name is…Jack and I went to university together, he'll take good care of you."_

_Hermione nodded. "I'll miss you. Give my love to mum." Giving her father a quick kiss on the cheek before she totally lost it, Hermione gathered her nerve and her suitcase and started determinedly over to the trio in the distance, her tears vanishing as she stared in awe out the great windows at the Statue of Liberty jutting out from New York Harbor._

"_Mr. and Mrs. Leon?" _

_The strawberry blond girl looked at her, and for a moment Hermione saw Ginny before her. _**NO! Go away, that life is over! **_Hermione blinked and "Liz" was still staring curiously at her instead. _

_The middle aged, distinguished-looking man grinned easily at her. "Hello there. You must be—"_

"_Delaveger. Devía Delaveger." Hermione dropped her bags and stuck out her hand, tucking a long strand of frizz-less apple cinnamon hair behind her ear. "A pleasure."_


	6. Where is the Love?

A/N: _Italics are Ginny's thoughts_

What's wrong with the world, mama  
People livin' like they ain't got no mamas  
I think the whole world addicted to the drama  
Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma  
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism  
But we still got terrorists here livin'  
In the USA, the big CIA  
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK  
But if you only have love for your own race  
Then you only leave space to discriminate  
And to discriminate only generates hate  
And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah  
Badness is what you demonstrate  
And that's exactly how anger works and operates  
Now, you gotta have love just to set it straight  
Take control of your mind and meditate  
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all

People killin', people dyin'  
Children hurt can you hear them cryin'?  
Can you practice what you preach?  
And would you turn the other cheek?

Father, Father, Father help us  
Send us some guidance from above  
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'  
Where is the love? (Love)  
Where is the love? (The love)  
Where is the love? (The love)  
Where is the love?  
The love, the love

It just ain't the same, always unchanged  
New days are strange, is the world insane?  
If love and peace is so strong  
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong  
Nations droppin' bombs  
Chemical gasses fillin' lungs of little ones  
With the ongoin' sufferin' as the youth die young  
So ask yourself is the lovin' really gone  
So I can ask myself really what is goin' wrong  
In this world that we livin' in people keep on givin' in  
Makin' wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends  
Not respectin' each other, deny thy brother  
A war is goin' on but the reason's undercover  
The truth is kept secret, it's swept under the rug  
If you never know truth then you never know love  
Where's the love, y'all, come on (I don't know)  
Where's the truth, y'all, come on (I don't know)  
Where's the love, y'all( come on yeah)

People killin', people dyin'  
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'  
Can you practice what you preach  
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us  
Send us some guidance from above  
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'  
Where is the love?

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder  
As I'm gettin' older, y'all, people gets colder  
Most of us only care about money makin'  
Selfishness got us followin' the wrong direction  
Wrong information always shown by the media  
Negative images, it's the main criteria  
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria  
Kids want to act like what they see in the cinema  
Yo', whatever happened to the values of humanity  
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality  
Instead in spreading love we're spreading animosity  
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity  
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under  
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down  
There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under (so ask yourself)  
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found

People killin', people dyin'  
Children hurt and you hear them cryin'  
Can you practice what you preach  
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us  
Send us some guidance from above  
'Cause people got me, got me questionin'  
Where is the love?

-The Black Eyed Peas, _Where Is The Love?_

**Last time:** Devía smiled. "We'll finish this chat another day."

Still chuckling, Sev could only wave her away……….

_The middle aged, distinguished-looking man grinned easily at her. "Hello there. You must be—"_

"_Delaveger. Devía Delaveger." Hermione dropped her bags and stuck out her hand, tucking a long strand of frizz-less apple cinnamon hair behind her ear. "A pleasure."_

**Chapter 3**

The Great Hall's mood seemed far too somber for the first day back after winter break. Witches and wizards trooped in, glancing wearily at the head table. Most students, minus the Slytherins of course, glared surreptitiously at Umbridge, Umbridge Jr., and Filch before finding a seat and chatting animatedly with their friends.

"I _told_ you, Gin, you can't transform a skiving skirt into a giant! It's not possible!"

Ginny Weasley flounced into the Hall ahead of Terry Boot. "Terry, sometimes I wonder why I tell you anything," she said absently, hopefully scanning the Hall before locating the slightly smaller Upperclassmen table. It was, unfortunately, wedged in the last space available: right alongside the slightly raised Head table. "Ugh. Sill over over there."

Terry saw it at the same time she did and grabbed her hand, threading through the long benches toward the far left one. "Wonder who—UMPH!" Ginny collided with a hard-faced black-haired woman and fell backwards into Terry. "Sorry, professor."

"Watch it, Weasley!" the strikingly sharp-featured woman snarled snottily. "I might be forced to deduct points for your clumsiness."

Ginny drew herself to her full height, a formidable 5'11". Terry attempted to pull her back, but she shook him off. "Two things, Umbridge, two things. Number one: Just because your _toad_ of a mother is Headmistress does not give you the right to simply become a point-sucking black hole. Number two: I am _not_, and will _never_ be, clumsy."

"Oooo, the Weasel has claws." Selena Umbridge's features darkened. "To each her own opinion, Weasley" She shoved her face coolly into Ginny's. "And watch your mouth. Try to remember where the _power_ lies in this school. It certainly isn't with the lowly student population, such as yourself."

Before Ginny could collect herself and fire back a retort, Selena sidled away, shooting a foxy smile at Blaise Zambini as she joined her mother across from him at the Head table.

Ginny growled and was about to start after her when Terry grabbed her arm.

"_Don't_, Gin," he warned. "It's not worth it. You know what she could do to you, what she could get her mother to do to you! She's a _professor_."

"_Foul_ piece of…of…" Ginny spat as she and Terry made their way to end of the Upperclassman table farthest from Umbridge. "Merlin, sometimes I wish we could just stay in our own houses instead of being all lumped together like this for everything. Umbridges Senior and Junior probably did this so Blaise can report us for breathing."

"Formulating more conspiracy theories about the Upper House again, Gin?" Luna Lovegood asked brightly, sitting across from her, and Ron slid in next to Luna with a grin. "But then you'd never get to sit with me as much."

"Or me." Terry slung his arm about Ginny, and she grinned impishly at him Ron paused momentarily to shoot Terry a dirty look before turning to Harry. "_Sit_ already, mate!"

Harry climbed into the bench next to Ron, with Cho adhered like glue to Harry's left arm. Harry's eyes darted uncomfortably around the Great Hall and all the girls who giggled and blushed when they met his gaze.

"Can't they look somewhere else?" he muttered bleakly, but Cho nestled herself closer into Harry's side, if that was possible.

"Don't worry about them, love, you have me and that's all that matters," Cho purred into his head.

Harry made no move to return the affection, merely sighing and staring blankly at his silverware.

Ginny frowned slightly. She had always been wary of Cho; something about the girl just seemed off. It wasn't that Ginny was jealous of Cho's position in Harry's life, as the rest of the female population in England was; if anything, Ginny only cared for Harry as a brother. No, what Ginny didn't like was how Cho always seemed to be there, hovering, playing Harry like a violin. A bit like some kind of spy…

A shadow crossed Ginny's left. "Mind if it sit?"

Ginny glanced up. "Oh, hi Draco. No, go ahead."

Draco smiled and plopped down beside Ginny, while Ron's scowl deepened. Luna, mid-conversation, finally elbowed him, hissing, "You'll _kill_ someone with that face if you don't stop it!"

"Have a good break?" Draco asked.

"Sure, if you consider undergoing a grueling week at pre-mediwitch training camp fun."

Draco nodded sympathetically and then shot her an adorable grin. "I don't know, sounds like a party to me!"

"Awwww, shut it, you didn't live through the horror." Ginny banged her head on the table and shoved him playfully. "And I expect your break was all rainbows and butterflies?"

He grinned ruefully as Hannah Abbott, the last Upperclassmen, arrived at the table amongst Ron's steady chant of "The food, the food, the food…"

"I wouldn't go quite that far. You know I stayed here with Professor Snape, don't you?"

Ginny's eyebrows popped up, her eyes glittering with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. "_Ohhhhh_ yes, I remember you telling me! How _was_ that lovely experience?"

Draco chuckled at her expression. "It wasn't _that_ awful. Much better than the Manor anytime," he added darkly, shaking his head and refocusing his clear blue eyes on Ginny. "And I found out _loads_ of things. You wouldn't believe how much Snape is in the loop."

"Yeah, after eight years I think we can all agree he's a bit loopy," Ron muttered, disappointedly ceasing his pleas for dinner as if realizing it wouldn't do much good in the long run.

"Oh, what sort of things?" Luna—ever the gossip queen—asked, catching Draco's last few sentences and tearing herself away from the latest hot gossip: the emergence of the Delaveger heir.

"Well, you do know Umbridge fired Lupin last year."

"_WHAT_?" Ron's face turned a bloody red, his anger, for once, not aimed directly at Draco. "That _toad_! Harry, d'you hear what—"

"I heard," Harry said heavily. "I just didn't want to ruin your vacation. I've known since before we left Hogwarts."

"But… but Harry, that's _awful_," Ginny gasped, her face pale, as Hannah turned toward them from farther down the table, leaning over the food that had instantly appeared. "What's awful?!"

"Umbridge sacked Lupin," Terry growled.

"We know exactly why he got it, too," Ginny added bitterly, angrily spearing a roll with her fork. "He always stuck up for us, during all those _completely_ biased punishments from all the teachers that have it in for us. She would've sacked him earlier if we weren't already short on professors."

"Right, imagine how _injured_ we would be if Lupin hadn't stepped in and stopped all those detentions with Filch!" Ron recalled with a shudder, staring sadly at the food in front of him, not even attempting his usual attack. He added hotly, "That _bitch_ of a—"

"RONALD!" Luna exclaimed at the same time Harry grabbed his best friend's upper forearm. "Don't, without Lupin her she _could_ expel you, or worse, hand you over to Filch! Don't say another word!"

"Especially here," Harry added, shooting a furtive glance toward Selena, chatting deviously over the Head's table to Blaise.

"You!" Ron rounded on his best friend. "Are you _mental_? How can you be taking this so lightly?"

"I had two weeks to deal with it," Harry muttered. "And you didn't see me when I found out."

"Malfoy, did Snape tell you who the replacement is?" Terry, on a whim, asked Draco around Ginny.

Draco shook his head. "Last week he told me that Umbridge still couldn't find one. He hasn't said a thing about it since."

"_Wonderful_," Ginny gritted out. "Bloody _brilliant_. How much do you want to bet that that _cow_ got one of her cronies at the Ministry to do it—"

"Or worse, Fudge himself," Ron piped in. Seeing Harry's jaw tighten, however, he added quickly, "Whoa, sorry mate."

Harry nodded darkly. "Forget it."

"Harry, don't tell me you and the Minister are still at each other's throats," Cho cooed, acting confused.

Before Harry could reply, Ginny hissed angrily, "Of _course_ he is, Chang, Fudge is the reason that V-Voldemort got away with so much! He's the _reason_ Dumbledore and half this school died! He's the reason the media has been allowed to _rip_ Harry apart; he _still _feels threatened by Harry's power! He—"

"Ginny," Harry said softly.

"—has spies all over Hogwarts"—Ginny resisted adding, 'And you're probably one of them'—"and he's obviously in cahoots with Umbridge to crush any kind of worthwhile and _useful_ learning here—"

"Ginny, _please_," Harry said harshly.

Ginny glanced at his tired green eyes and her mouth snapped shut. "Sorry," she muttered rebelliously, reaching for the steak and kidney pie.

"Seems to me you're right on target," Draco whispered in her ear.

"I _know_ I am," Ginny hissed back. "Harry just won't do a thing about it!"

"The thing with Potter is that he's too nice. It kills him to step on anyone's toes," Draco said, and Ginny nodded.

"Exactly! And, I don't know, he just doesn't seem to _care_ about anything anymore, I'm—Huh, Terry?"

"I don't see any new teachers, do you?" Terry whispered.

Ginny quickly raised her eyes and scanned the length of the Head table. "No, you're right…. Think she finally gave Defense to Snape?"

"Now, we wondered that already," Hannah said in a low voice from farther down the table. "She couldn't shift all the teachers around in the middle of the year, and if Snape goes to Defense, whose got Potions?"

"Hmm, good point." Ginny furrowed her brow, musing the probabilities, as did her eight housemates, while trying to exclude Blaise from their conversation.

Suddenly, a horrible idea struck Ginny, and as she gasped, "Oh, Merlin!" Luna hissed, "Oh, no!"

Both girls stared at each other in pure terror, and Ron demanded, "What? What's wrong now?"

"What if…" Luna managed, "What if…"

"What if the toad herself takes the job?" Ginny asked in a hushed voice.

Hannah sucked in a quick breath of air, the color drained from Harry's face, and the entire table grew so quiet that the conversation from the rest of the Great Hall seemed as loud as the Last Battle. Their unnatural silence even caused Selena and Blaise to halt their whispered conference and stare at the eight suspiciously.

Ginny, meanwhile, turned slowly toward Umbridge and studied her overly delighted face.

"She's really pleased with herself about something," Harry observed warily.

"Probably wet herself over it, too," Ron muttered darkly, and Luna jabbed him with her fork.

"Ack! _Luna_!"

"SSSSSHHH, Ronald, she's standing up!"

"Oh sweet Merlin," Hannah whispered fearfully as the entire hall silenced. They were well aware of the wrath of Umbridge.

"Er…harrumph. Well, it is the beginning of another semester."

"That's awfully observant of her," Ginny whispered faintly.

"The rules have not changed," Umbridge chirped. "I expect you to remember and abide by them all; if you do not, you have experienced the consequences." She uttered a tiny giggle, and Filch, beside her, smiled a wide toothed, maniacal grin.

"Sickos, both of them," Ron whispered. "Plain and simple. The woman's a bloody lunatic. Our school is being run by a nutter who belongs in St. Mungos."

Ginny sensed, rather than saw, Draco snort dignifiedly behind her.

"We're going to die, we're going to die," Hannah chanted softly to herself, rocking back and forth slightly, which seemed a perfect ending to Ron's speech.

"We lived through the second war; we aren't going to die," Harry snapped, but he looked like he had been forced to swallow something disgusting.

"Finally, I'm sure many of you may have noticed the absence of our _dear_ Professor Lupin," Umbridge said sweetly.

Ginny tensed and Terry grabbed her hand.

"For those of you who are unaware, I deemed Lupin a menace to the school due to his lycanthropy." Umbridge smiled evilly and continued in a disgusted tone, "For all the first years, that means he is a _werewolf_. A very bad, scary beast."

Tiny gasps from the littlest occupants of the Hall caused Ron and Harry to growl like mad dogs and make to leap up furiously, but Luna desperately grasped the spluttering Ron, and Cho merely snaked her arm farther around Harry's waist to hold him down.

Abruptly Umbridge changed direction. "Unless you dears live in a cave, you may have heard that the last Delaveger heir came forward last week."

The hall immediately broke into excited, whispered conversation, but the Upperclassmen table sat dumbstruck.

"That's _it_?" Ron exclaimed, horrified. "The old bag won't even say—"

"Fifty points if you fools do not HOLD YOUR TONGUES!" Selena finally addressed the Upper House table with a hiss from her perch at the Head table. She smirked cruelly as Ron snapped his mouth close in shock.

Umbridge continued brightly, "Ah-_hem_….Although she could not join us tonight, I am pleased to welcome the Lady Devía Delaveger to our teaching staff on such short notice as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor and Upperclassmen Head of House."

Ron's mouth dropped open as the Hall erupted once again, unyielding to Umbridge's final attempts for silence. At last she _humphed_ and sat down again. "No bloody way."

"Who's she?" asked Hannah timidly, and Ginny exclaimed, "Merlin, that's _right_! You're muggleborn! You wouldn't know!"

"Delaveger was the oldest recorded wizarding name still in existence, a powerful and prestigious family," Luna intoned from memory to Hannah. "The line was thought to have become extinct 18 years ago—at least, until now—when the current Lord and Lady Delaveger died near the end of first war. Rumors about their child floated around for quite a while, and many imposters came forward, boy and girl, claiming to be the last Delaveger. None were ever proven until _she_ came back last week and passed all the Ministry tests, proving that she was indeed a Delaveger."

Hannah furrowed her brow, tucking some brown hair behind her ear. "So if Delaveger was just a name, like Black or Malfoy or Potter—no offense, guys," she added to Draco and Harry, "then why is everyone so worked up about it?"

Luna frowned. "Of course, Binns only covered it briefly in History of Magic…"

"The Delavegers weren't just a name, they were their own race," Draco cut in, and the entire table stared at him in surprise. "They were said to have been born with the purest raw magic; some could perform wandless magic, some could stop time, many were Seers, others possessed the knowledge of the ages, and a few were even rumored to be totally impervious to any spell cast upon them."

"So she can do all that?" Terry asked interestedly. "This Delaveger woman?"

Draco winced. "I said 'some.' Some never had anything extraordinary at all, and none ever had all of them all the same time, either. But the family is positively showered in gifts."

By now, all thoughts of dinner had completely wafted out of Ron's mind. "And you know all this how?"

Draco's eyes hardened, and he looked away. "_Please_, Weasley, my father was the Dark Lord's second. The Delaveger family has always supported the Light, but the Dark Lord _wanted_ the Delavegers on his side. It was like an addiction; he _had_ to have them. Of course I know about them. My father trained me to recognize a Delaveger at school the moment I saw one. Not that I'm proud about it," he muttered.

Ginny sat, taken aback. '_That _was_ kind of brave. I mean, Draco, being Draco, admitting that…' _She caught his eye and briefly smiled.

A strange rosy coloring faintly shone on Draco's face, but before Ginny could dwell on it, Harry said dejectedly, "Well, you saw how delighted Umbridge was about this whole Delaveger situation. What if they're in it together?"

"Don't even _suggest_ it!" Luna distracted reached for Ron's hand. "We don't know that!"

"What if she's really old and just like Umbridge?" Ron wondered aloud, staring loathingly at Umbridge's pink bow. "Umbridge would jump at the opportunity to control our Head. It would only support her hell-bent quest to wipe the rest of us out."

Hannah shuddered. "Luna, what did the paper say about her?"

Luna shrugged helplessly. "Absolutely nothing. Just said she had previously lived in America."

"Sweet Merlin, a _Yank_," Terry muttered.

Ginny grimaced. "Guys, I think we should all brace ourselves for anything."

"_Ooooooh_," Ron moaned dramatically, throwing his hands over his head. "Bet she's _awful_. Filch's fantasy date, ugly as ever, a real hag…I'll be surprised if we don't end up in St. Mungo's by the end of this year!"

A/N As always, please review:-)

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	7. There's Gotta Be More to Life

Thanks to my reviewers, Muses9 and Mariah! Thank you for reviewing, I really appreciate it! Hope you like the next few chappies!

I've got it all, but I feel so deprived,

I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside,

Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing.

And why can't I let it go?

There's gotta be more to life...

Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.

Cause the more that I'm...

Tripping out thinking there must be more to life.

Well it's life, but I'm sure... there's gotta be more.

(Than wanting more)

I've got the time and I'm wasting it slowly

Here in this moment I'm half way out the door.

Onto the next thing, I'm searching for something that's missing.

There's gotta be more to life...

Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me,

Cause the more that I'm...

Tripping out thinking there must be more to life.

Well it's life, but I'm sure... there's gotta be more

I'm wanting more!

I'm always waiting on something other than this

Why'm I feelin' like there's something I missed?

There's gotta be more to life...

Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me.

Cause the more that I'm...

Tripping out thinking there must be more to life.

Well it's life, but I'm sure...

there's gotta be more to life...

There's gotta be more!!! Oooh.

More to life

-Stacie Orrico, _(there's gotta be) More to Life_

**Last time: **Ginny grimaced. "Guys, I think we should all brace ourselves for anything."

"_Ooooooh_," Ron moaned dramatically, throwing his hands over his head. "Bet she's _awful_. Filch's fantasy date, ugly as ever, a real hag…I'll be surprised if we don't end up in St. Mungo's by the end of this year!"…………

**Chapter 4**

Luna studied her second semester schedule the next morning, not bothering to compare it with 'Ronald's' because the Upperclassmen had the exact same classes. "What a first day. Double Defense Against the Dark Arts followed by Double Potions."

"Ao, buffy 'ell…" Ron blew some steam and crumbs out of his mouth. That morning he had announced he would be consuming half the food on the Upperclassmen table since he had missed dinner the night before.

Terry and Hannah fidgeted nervously.

"_Honestly_, Ron, we don't want to see what you're eating _after_ it enters your mouth." Ginny sighed.

Ron grinned at her and swallowed. "For a minute there you sounded like 'Mione."

The entire table fell silent, and Ron, realizing his mistake, glanced guiltily at Harry. "Sorry about that, mate."

"It's fine," Harry muttered roughly, pulling a few inches away from Cho. "Just don't bring it up again."

In what may have been a record, Ron totally lost his appetite and pushed his remaining food away. "Erm…Aren't you all worried about the new professor?"

_Way to change the subject, bro. _

Harry looked up again from his side of the table. "Whoever she is, she can't be as bad as Dolores when she '_taught_.' " He twisted the last word with a bitter smile before retreating back into his shell.

Ginny frowned at his depressed attitude, and her scowl deepened as Cho draped herself across his lap and whispered, "Come on, Potter, let's get out of here."

Ginny spluttered in disgust. "Yeah, take it somewhere else," she muttered. Luna patted her friend sympathetically on the back.

"_Why_ does he do it?" Ginny stormed as she and Luna headed out the doors of the Great Hall. "Why does he allow that…that _scarlet woman_ to…. to _exploit_ him like that when the rest of the teenage witches in England fawning over him drives him mad?! _Why_ does he act like nothing matters anymore?"

Luna shook her head sadly. "I know, Gin, I know. I see it, too. After fourth year he just lost it."

"Of whom are we gossiping now?" Draco asked, sliding into step with Ginny and Luna as the turned a corridor.

The two girls exchanged glances before Ginny muttered, "Harry and Chang."

Draco smirked. "What about Potter and Chang?"

Ginny growled in response so Luna explained, "Gin and I are trying to figure out what Harry sees in Cho."

Draco smirked at Ginny. "I thought you got over this fourth year?"

"Stick a sock in it."

Draco flicked some silvery blond hair out of his eyes. "I _would_ give you a guy's perspective, but you want me to—and you did put it _so_ refinely—stick a sock in it, I might no be able to."

"Oooo, the mysterious male," Ginny teased. "I take it back, D. Carry on."

Draco smiled to himself. "Okay, so the way I see it—not that I spend my time psychoanalyzing Potter," he added quickly.

"Of course not," Ginny said sweetly.

"Well, as long as that's clear…" Draco began slowly, "I… don't think he sees anything in Chang."

Ginny slowed as they neared the Dark Arts door and faced Draco. "_What_?"

Draco stopped too and shifted his books, staring steadily at Luna and Ginny. "It's like this: Potter has no family—"

"He's got _my_ family!" Ginny flared.

Draco held up a hand. "Wait, wait. Potter hasn't had a _real_ family; he had no father to raise him and from what I've gathered, that uncle of his wasn't exactly up to par. Though I hate to admit, Potter has had a particularly traumatic life. And, throughout it, what four letter word hasn't he had much of?"

"Trust?" Luna guessed.

"Good answer, but that's five letters, o learned one."

Realization dawned upon Ginny. "Love. It's love, isn't it?"

"Exactly." Draco's lip curled darkly. "And Chang gives him so much of it, it might as well pour from the sky."

"_Ack_." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Too much information."

Luna, however, nodded in agreement. "How positively Seerish of you, Draco."

He shrugged shortly. "Let's go in."

"Wait—Draco." Ginny caught his arm before he could enter the room. "How did you guess? About all that?"

Draco reluctantly dragged his eyes to meet hers, and Ginny was surprised to see as brightness, a revealed emotion in the blue that she had never known Draco to show. "I was the same way, once," he muttered, but then he blinked and the openness was gone.

"Oh," Ginny said softly, quickly remembering the old Draco's reputation before shaking her head and releasing his arm. "Sorry."

"Don't be, I was the one who told you." Draco cleared his throat, realizing with a start how close their faces were. He motioned with his head, his shock of white hair falling loosely into his face again, and he offered his arms to Ginny and Luna. "Shall we, ladies?"

A knowing smile graced Luna's face as she slide her left arm into Draco's, and Ginny took his left arm. "We shall. Let's blow this Delaveger woman away."

With a deep breath, the three Upperclassmen stepped through the Defense door and into the territory of Lady Devía Delaveger.


	8. The Last Battle

Sick and tired of this world

There's no more air

Tripping over myself, going nowhere

Waiting, suffocating, no direction

I took a dive and

On the way down

I saw you, and you saved me from myself

And I won't forget the way you loved me

And on the way down

I almost fell right through

But I held on to you

Been wondering why it's only me

Have you always been inside waiting to breathe

It's alright, sunlight on my face

I wake up and yet, I'm alive 'cuz

On the way down

I saw you, and you saved me from myself

And I won't forget the way you loved me

And on the way down

I almost fell right through

But I held on to you

I was so afraid of going under

But now, the weight of the world

Feels like nothing, no nothing

(down, down, down)

You're all I wanted

(down, down, down)

You're all I needed

(down, down, down)

You're all I wanted

You're all I needed

And I won't forget the way you loved me

All that I wanted, all that I needed now

On the way down

I saw you, and you saved me from myself

And I won't forget the way you loved me

And on the way down

I almost fell right through

But I held on to you

-Ryan Cabrera, _On The Way Down_

_The smoke was just beginning to clear. Sunlight danced across the glass, because the glass was everywhere, and his breath…there it was, right on her neck, the floating words the early morning light shimmering off diamonds and gold, those five all-important words, "Devía, will you marry m—"_

_**No, Devía could have no more of that image. With a slight grunt she turned over in her bed, shaking her head, reminding herself viciously that it would never happen. And then her eyes drooped…**_

"_Evac! EVAC! Everybody get the HELL out now! It's coming down—"_

_**Groaning, Devía quickly rolled to the other side of the bed. "Damn dreams…"**_

_Somewhere in her memory, a dull voice intoned, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust—"_

"_Uuuggggghh!" Devía sat straight up abruptly, violet eyes flying wide open. Grumpily muttering, "When you need it, you don't get it," she padded out of her bed and to the door. _**Need…hot chocolate…**

_Devía didn't remember returning from the kitchen or even falling asleep. Feeling a slight breeze followed by a blast of cold on her skin, damp air, she once again, somewhat irritably, opened her eyes, and—_

"What_ in the …bloody hell?" Devía whispered in confusion, her British past showing itself once again. _

_The field she faced was damp, filled with think fog, dead weeds, and yellowed knee-high grass. Ominous dark gray clouds swirled overhead, giving the meadow an eerie glow. As if to amplify the creepiness, sounds of battle sounded in the not-so-far distance._

"_Lovely, wake me up when it's over…" Devía yawned and rolled over, promptly spitting up a mouthful of dirt. "What the _f_—"_

"_I should have killed you when I had the chance. Insolent boy. _Stupid_ boy. Just like your parents."_

_Devía froze and cautiously, silently, tossed her long golden tresses over her shoulder, raising her head warily so her only her amethyst eyes appeared over the dead reeds._

"_You tried that one already, don't you remember? Didn't work too well, did it?"_

_Devía started at the deep yet strangely familiar male voice, threw caution to the wind and stood, the mist immediately enveloping her. _

"_The past is of no consequence," came the unnaturally cold, haunting voice of the first speaker. "You are weak, Potter, and now I can finally get you out of the way."_

**Holy **shit**. Is this the final battle? **

**No**, _her logical half argued._ **You've never sent the final battle, how could you dream it?**

**Yeah, but hell! The dirt in my mouth is definitely not a dream. Wake up, Devía, Wake up!**

_Devía squinted through the fog, and abruptly her razor-sharp vision cut through the thick mist like a knife. Two figures seemed to materialize out of thin air: one was a dark-haired, lean but well-built teenager, and the other was quite possibly the tallest man she had ever seen. _**Well, if it isn't the devil himself**_…_

_Fascinated by the man's pure evil, snakelike red eyes, Devía drew closer, as Harry weakly choked, "You…first…."_

_And while the first thought that flew into Devía's mind was, _**Harry can't kill anybody!** _especially with the way he was limping around, the next moment unequivocally proved her wrong. Nearly a millisecond after Voldemort calmly pointed his wand and muttered, "Vicara," Harry ground out, "Avada KEDAVRA!"_

_Seeming to flinch at the words, the fog thickened once more and Devía frantically focus. _**Come on, dammit! Of course I want to see the man who deliberately murdered thousands die!**_ A muffled choke from her right followed by a heavy THUMP momentarily distracted her, and she looked with worry toward the empty spot where Harry had stood moments before, but _where_ was Voldy—YES!_

_At once a faint shimmer and the fog disappeared altogether, light streaming through the clouds in hundreds of ways in a matter of seconds. And, apart from Devía standing upright in her books with wings pajama bottoms and 'I Love to Read' tank top, the field appeared completely deserted._

_From the triumphant yells in the near distance, Devía could tell that the Light had somehow figured out that the Dark Lord was gone, or otherwise the Dark forces had all gathered together and begun to dance a jig. _**Hmmm, strange they wouldn't finish it out to the death, though…**

_Something about that last thought bothered Devía more than it should have, as did her obscured vision at Voldemort's exact moment of demise and the abnormally fast sunlight breakage that followed soon after—_

_A faint gasp sounded downright field._

"_Oh dear God, Harry!" Devía could have kicked herself as she shook her head and weaved quickly through the meadow. Sure, she had only known the guy for four school years, and she hadn't really thought of him in three, but he had been good to her_**. He never deserved all the crap he got stuck with, anyway. Like that stupid Skeeter woman.**_ In a moment, she dropped to her knees by his side._

_The blood was everywhere, on his robes, his face, his hands. Reality slapped Devía in the faced as she figured out exactly what _Vicara _did. _

_Harry's whole throat was tore up, as if a knife had slashed through it. How he was still alive Devía didn't even know, but however he managed it, it wouldn't last for long: his lips were turning blue and his skin had changed to a sickly shade of translucent yellow, his face as white as the snow in her front yard at home. _

_Devía didn't think then, she acted with incomprehensible speed and precision. How she came to be in a field in Scotland at the last battle, she didn't know, but she did know that it was _far_ too real for her to simply stand around and be the cheering spectator. Biting her lip, Devía closed her eyes and quickly laid her mouth on her old best friend's lips, throwing every ounce of her family's power into the kiss._** This better freaking work.**

_In his semi-conscious state, Harry drew in a sharp, raspy breath, but Devía only deepened the kiss. A white glow began to emerge from the wound and illuminated Harry's neck. Devía sighed in relief. Her work here was done; her family's most cherished gift of healing had come through, and Harry would be okay. _

_The Kiss of Life and Death through the female Delaveger line. It took nearly everything out of her, but Devía could do it. She had tried it before. Only then had she discovered the Kiss worked only on magical folk. And part of her heart had died along with him._

_Devía pulled back, leaving only a small silver _**delta** _symbol_ _scarred below Harry's collarbone nearest where the harshest gash had just been. _**Oh, he is not going to like me for that one…**

_Somewhere far and away a celebration was taking place. "Suppose it's only fair that you get to be there," Devía muttered, picking up Harry's fallen wand and echoing words from another life. _**It's Levi-O-sa, Ron, not Levio-SA!**_ "Wingardium Leviosa!" _

_In the few minutes since Harry and Voldemort had last battled, the weather had changed dramatically, light streaming from nearly every direction, all traces of cloud cover completely gone. Devía glanced suspiciously at the tree line before trotting toward the crest of the meadow's hill with Harry in tow. _

"_Er….aruuumm…" Harry moaned softly, and Devía gently lowered him to the nearest flat bluff, crouching down next to him and gazing with a smile at the hundreds of sobbing, ecstatic Light fighters. Beside her, Harry stirred, still pale and trembling from the after-effects of the Vicarum spell. Devía turned her eyes on her old friend and placed a hand lightly on the side over his face. Harry whimpered weakly, as if, even while unconscious, it killed him to show his pain. _

"_Sssshhh," Devía murmured, running her finger rhythmically against his cheek, repeating the phrase, "Everything will be alright. Sssshhh." Biting her lip thoughtfully as Harry slowly calmed down, Devía lifted Harry's wand, shooting bright red and gold sparks, Gryffindor colors, into the sky. _**Harry would be proud.**

_From the startled yelps below, Devía knew that Harry really would be found soon. Sighing, she ruffled the 17-year-old's mop of dark hair fondly, memories of her years at Hogwarts flying back to her as fast as her knowledge of spells had._

"_Oi! It came from up here!"_

_Harry feebly struggled to open his eyes. "Wha…where…where am I…"_

"_Stay out of trouble," Devía whispered softly as voices echoed nearby, growing increasingly louder. "Although, if I remember correctly, trouble seems to find you." She grinned and removed her hand from his face, sliding back into the battlefield before Harry succeeded in completely opening his eyes._

Wonderful**now how do I get out of here? Home, home, home, HOME**_Devía thought furiously, frustratedly clicking her heels together three times_** Hell, it's worth a try. There's no place like home, there's no place like**—_"OW!"_

_Devía slammed into the wooden floor with a BANG._ **Ow!** _Holding her bruised elbow, Devía forlornly gazed up at the side of her bed and her soft, fluffy comforter. Yawning thoughtfully, Devía reached up for the phone on the stand behind her and found it with her hand, pulling it down to her level and pressing the #1 speed dial to her best friend's house._

"_Liz. Yeah, hey, it's me—hhmm? Oh, is it really three in the morning? That's exciting. Hey, I just had the most _incredibly_ real dream…"_


	9. No Such Thing

Welcome to the real world, she said to me

Condescendingly

Take a seat, take your life

Plot it out in black and white

Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings

And the drama queens

I'd like to think the best of me

Is still hiding up my sleeve

They love to tell you

Stay inside the lines

But something's better

On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school

I wanna scream at the

Top of my lungs

I just found out there's no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you've got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track

Faded white hats

Grabbing credits and maybe transfers

They read all the books but they can't find the answers

And all of our parents

They're getting older

I wonder if they've wished for anything better

While in their memories

Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you

Stay inside the lines

But something's better

On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school

I wanna scream at the top of my lungs

I just found out there's no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you got to rise above

I am invincible

I am invincible

I am invincible

As long as I'm alive

I wanna run through the halls of my high school

I wanna scream at the

Top of my lungs

I just found out there's no such thing as the real world

Just a lie you've got to rise above

I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion

I'm gonna bust down the double doors

And when I stand on these tables before you

You will know what all this time was for

John Mayer, _No Such Thing_

**Last time:** "Don't be, I was the one who told you." Draco cleared his throat, realizing with a start how close their faces were. He motioned with his head, his shock of white hair falling loosely into his face again, and he offered his arms to Ginny and Luna. "Shall we, ladies?"

A knowing smile graced Luna's face as she slide her left arm into Draco's, and Ginny took his left arm. "We shall. Let's blow this Delaveger woman away."

With a deep breath, the three Upperclassmen stepped through the Defense door and into the territory of Lady Devía Delaveger.

_Devía slammed into the wooden floor with a BANG._ **Shit!** _Holding her bruised elbow, Devía forlornly gazed up at the side of her bed and her soft, fluffy comforter. Yawning thoughtfully, Devía reached up for the phone on the stand behind her and found it with her hand, pulling it down to her level and pressing the #1 speed dial to her best friend's house._

"_Liz. Yeah, hey, it's me—hhmm? Oh, is it really three in the morning? That's exciting. Hey, I just had the most _incredibly_ real dream…"_

**Chapter 5**

The room at first appeared empty. Luna shot Ginny a look. "You're the loud one in the family. You get the honors."

Ginny nodded and called cautiously, "Is anyone here? Professor Delaveger?"

"Hey! Just a sec!"

Draco and Ginny leaped in utter surprise, and Luna nearly bowled over into a chair when the youthful, harmonic voice came from the alcove above.

Both Draco's eyebrow's shot up at Ginny, and even Ginny's mouth dropped open as a beautiful apple cinnamon haired girl bounded athletically down the stairs toward the three.

"Hi!" she said, her voice holding a dusting of an American accent, offering her hand to each of them, her radiant smile lighting up her face. "I'm Devía—Professor Delaveger to you, I suppose."

Her friendly grin never left her face, even as the shocked silence that ensued was broken by Luna saying faintly, "_You're_ Lady Delaveger?"

Devía laughed. "Last I checked. And you three are?"

Ginny finally composed herself and grinned. "Ginny Weasley."

"I'm Luna Lovegood," Luna said amicably.

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said suavely, studying Devía, recognizing from the photos his father had once made him memorize her extremely strong resemblance to her mother. Especially the eyes. Amethyst eyes were Delaveger eyes.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Luna, Ginny. Draco." Devía's breathtaking gaze lingered slightly on Draco and Ginny's linked arm. Luna thought she saw a hint of surprise in Devía's façade, but it melted into a smile as Ginny and Draco quickly jumped away from each other. "I assume the rest of my class is planning on arriving sometime before next week?"

"They're afraid to come," Luna informed her. "They all think you're going to be old and stingy."

Devía regally covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes twinkling, and Ginny didn't hesitate to laugh out loud. "Oh, this is great. Haha…Ron is going to be _so_ shocked."

"Lady Delaveger? A word?"

Snape stood at the door, and Devía gave him a dirty look. "Okay, can I trust you three to hold down the fort for a few?"

"We'll try to keep them from climbing the walls," Luna joked.

"Knowing Gin's male counterpart, that might be difficult," Draco noted sardonically.

Ginny snorted. "Comments like that, Draco dearest, and he's never gonna want to be your friend."

Draco threw out his arms and shot her a Look. "Do I _care_?"

Devía smiled and rolled her eyes in Snape's general direction, swiftly following him out the door. "Looks like we're in good hands."

Another stunned silence followed her exit.

"Well," Draco hoisted his books back into his bag. "The party's left; so can we."

"Un-_uh_!" Ginny laughed, pulling him back. "Are you kidding? I'm not missing the look on Ron's face; it's going to be _priceless_."

"She doesn't exactly seem to be the type who'd collaborate with Umbridge, does she?" Luna mused.

Ginny grinned in relief. "No, thank Merlin—"

"Sssssh…..Gin! Luna! Where is she? Did you guys see her?"

Ron crept into the room, followed by Harry, Cho, Terry, and Hannah.

Ginny winked at Draco and Luna. "Oh, Ron, it's _awful_," she moaned, plopping dramatically into a desk beside Luna at the very front of the room.

Terry unloaded at the desk behind her. "What's awful?"

"She's positively _hideous_," Ginny whispered, fluttering her eyelashes and placing a hand over her heart. "Could pass as Umbridge's twin, _ugh_." Ginny actually shuddered at the image.

Ron set up a wait. "Oi! I _knew_ it, _blasted_—"

"Shut it, Ron," Harry warned in a low voice, sweeping tired emerald eyes suspiciously around the classroom.

"Oh, she's not here; she went off with Snape." Luna waved a hand airily.

"With _Snape_?" Hannah yelped, taking a seat across the aisle with Draco.

"Oh, come now," Cho cooed, looking down her nose at Ginny as she sat supremely beside Harry. "She can't be _that_ bad."

"Chang speaks sense," Blaise drawled as he swaggered coolly into the class. "Selena's mother wouldn't have hired her if she was an ancient twit."

"Oh, on a first name basis now, are we?" Terry muttered.

Blaise smirked. "You may be in for a surprise."

Ginny curled her lip in loathing. "So may you," she said under her breath.

"Really, she's a fiend?" Hannah asked.

"Well, in the words of my dearest brother," Ginny in her seat to smirk at Ron, who was sitting next to Terry, "She's Filch's fantasy date, ugly as ever, a _real_ hag."

Draco snorted, but Ron was too frantic to notice.

"_What_ did I tell you!" Ron hissed as the bell (A/N Do they have bells? How can they tell when class is over?) rang and the room quieted. "I bet this Delaveger woman wouldn't _flinch_ before sentencing us to detention in the dungeons with Filch, she'd cackle like a spineless mad _cow_—"

"A tad bit louder, if you would, Mr. Weasley, I think I missed everything that came before the spineless mad cow bit."

Ron stiffened, and his mouth snapped shut, his eyes bulging in terror. Slowly turning toward the voice behind him, Ron choked in a different kind of horror at the long, lean young woman leaning causally against the doorframe. "Ah…erm…" he spluttered helplessly.

By now, the entire class had swiveled to stare in shock at Devía, and Terry kicked Ginny's chair. "You _evil_ woman!"

Ginny grinned innocently at him. Devía echoed Ginny's expression and stood straight up, casually strolling toward Ron. "You _are_ Mr. Weasley, aren't you? Ginny's brother."

Ron's mouth flopped like a dead fish before he finally managed a squeaky, "Y-yes."

"What do you know, lessons _and_ a show," Draco mused, and Ginny stifled a laugh, grinning wickedly at her brother.

Devía grinned, nearly blinding the stunned Ron with a row of perfect pearly white teeth. (A/N Her adopted parents weren't dentists for nothing!) "I assume the cat will let go in time for you to participate in class?"

Ron nodded weakly, and Devía turned to the class. "Yes, I'm Devía Delaveger—Your new head. About myself….I'm nineteen, same age as you—"

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered in delight, lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"_Ssssh_!" Luna hissed back at him like an angry goose.

"—But do remember that one tiny little factor separates you from me: the word _Professor_ in front of my name. _Don't_ forget the boundaries that go along with that."

"Why not?" asked Ginny innocently, with a shrewd grin back at Ron.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because you will be expelled from Hogwarts."

"She sounded scarily like Umbridge Jr. for a minute there," Terry muttered in Ron's ear.

Devía smiled genuinely. "I heard my predecessor is a hard act to follow, especially since his release came as a bit of a shock, so…hopefully, you'll all find me somewhat sufficient."

Ginny noticed the mood in the classroom relax slightly at that comment.

"Okay." Devía flicked her want and a sheet of parchment appeared in her hand. "I'm only going to take attendence once this year, so I can get all your names." She absently scratched her cheek with the side of her quill, studying the list. "Also, give me your house, if you would."

"Planning to take points already, are you?"

Devía grinned at Ginny wickedly. "Of course. Professor Snape and I placed a bet on who could dock more points from Gryffindors, and I hate coming in last."

Ron let out a squeak.

Devía mischievously winked at him. "My homework for you tonight would be to lighten up, Mr. Weasley."

"Oh. Right." Ron grinned feebly, as Devía said, "Hannah Abbott?"

"Here!" Hannah waved, and Devía gave her a disarming smile.

"House?"

"Hufflepuff."

Devía nodded agreeably. "Terry Boot?"

Terry waved his hand. "Ravenclaw."

"Good, thanks…Hoe—I mean, Cho Chang? Whoops, sorry there, don't know where that came from."

Ginny held back a snort and Draco smirked, as did Ron and Terry. Devía, however, continued to smile quite unapologetically with a Dumbledore-like twinkle in her amethyst eyes.

"If she wasn't new here, I'd say she planned that," Ginny whispered delightedly to Luna.

Cho scowled and inched away from Harry, glancing at him for support but finding him oddly focused on Devía. "Ravenclaw," she eventually snapped in a huff, crossing her arms sullenly.

"Oooo, no need to get moody, just an innocent mistake…" Devía muttered good-naturedly to herself under her breath, but Ginny and Draco caught the comment, Ginny cracking up.

"Something funny, Ms. Weasley? Do you have something to contribute, something to share with the class?" Devía fixed what she hoped was a stern, Snapelike gaze on Ginny. That unmistakable twinkle was still there, however, and Ginny could only choke back a laugh and shake her head.

"Allergies, Professor. Sorry."

"Well, carrying on….Luna, yeah, I got you, house though?"

"Ravenclaw," Luna supplied helpfully while Ron nudged Ginny. ("Gin, mum never told me you were _allergic_!" ) "And Draco's next, he's in Slytherin."

"Ah, yes, good ol' Slytherin," Devía murmured to herself more than her class. "Thank you, Ms. Lovegood. And that would lead us to…"

Devía frowned at the absences of Parvati and Padma Patil's names, at the absences of _so_ many names…She blinked back to reality. "Harry Potter?"

Harry, hearing his name, seemed to jerk out of his trancelike state. He raised his hand slightly, and said, "Gryffindor."

"Another victim," Devía said to herself, and this time Ron laughed slightly at their running joke. "Mr. Weasley, I'm guessing you and your sister are also in Gryf—"

"Excuse me."

Harry's interruption had even Cho staring at him in confusion.

Devía looked up from her list. "Mr. Potter."

Harry's calculating green eyes studied Devía swiftly, as if he was making some mental decision. "Have we met before?"

"Have you ever been the States?" Devía countered. **Well, it's not lying, exactly, more like withholding the truth…**

"No. You're right." Harry frowned. "Sorry, it was a stupid question."

Devía saw the dark circles under his eyes and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Don't lose sleep over it. Okay, next…" Devía arched a dark eyebrow. "Blaise Zambini."

Blaise smirked and nodded curtly, an imperial smile on his face.

**Brat, probably thinks he'll be able to pull the strings on me through his friends in high places.** "I assume you're in Slytherin?" Devía asked sweetly, rolling the word off her mouth in the same tone Draco Malfoy used when he called her 'mudblood' so many years ago.

"Yes, I am, actually." Blaise's smile faltered, his eyes sending a challenging 'You got a problem with that?' at the professor. Devía, however, continued to make little notes on her list without batting an eye.

"Potter," Cho murmured in Harry's ear in a voice dripping with sugar. Ginny rolled her eyes._ Can't she even lower herself off her throne to call Harry by his first name?_ "How could you _possibly_ think that you had _ever_ known the Lady Devía _Delaveger_…" Cho trailed off at Harry's stony glare.

"Her voice sounds familiar," he muttered darkly, staring determinedly at the corner of his desk.

"Yes, so does the Minister of Magic's," Cho returned in the same childish tone. "But—"

"Ms. Chang, anything you share to Mr. Potter you can also share with us." Cho jumped away from Harry as Devía set the list of names aside and set her incredible lilac spotlights on her. "Now, you can either be the good example or the horrible mistake. Which one's it going to be?"

Cho shot daggers into Devía, but when her new professor didn't back down, Cho stuck out her lip sulkily.

"That's what I thought." Devía smiled and sat down cheerfully on the edge of her desk. "Professor Lupin left me some notes on your last few years—I understand you all took your NEWTS last year?"

The class nodded.

"Good," Devía picked up another scroll and looked at it before transferring it to the other side of the desk. "Congratulations, by the way, on your superb performance. Your homework tonight is to write up a list of the topics you've covered so far. Notice I said _topics_, not exact spells." She gave the nine Upperclassmen an ill-at-ease smile. "This is _your_ year—your last year. I may be a teacher but I still want you to have fun. If you have any ideas, or anything you want to learn about Defense before you graduate, make note of that too."

"I have a comment." Ron raised his hand.

"Oh—don't worry about raising hands in this class, Mr. Weasley; it takes far too much energy."

Ron grinned, his face and ears matching his hair color. "I think you're a _bloody_ brilliant professor, Professor Delaveger."

Devía laughed. "Wow, Mr. Weasley, I'm flattered considering I actually haven't _taught_ anything yet, but thanks all the same. Just remember that when Snape and I come after you Gryffindors." Ron laughed, and Devía looked at the clock above her desk. "You have forty-five minutes left, I'm sure if y'all stopped _talking_ and started _working_ you'd finish in plenty of time…"

"Talking? _Us_?" Ginny asked. "You've _got_ to be kidding. In the words of our beloved Charms professor Selena Umbridge, Merlin bless her, we don't _talk,_ we _whine._ We're rude, disrespectful, and thoughtless. We have no feelings whatsoever for anybody _but_ ourselves." Everyone but Blaise laughed.

"You sounded _exactly_ like her!" Terry exclaimed. "Exactly."


	10. The Last Ten Generations

**A/N:** To my reviewers Jenny, Carrie, Rain-witch-85, creeper, and Muses9: Thanks so much for the reviews! They make my day! Rain witch: To answer your question, Hermione's eye color is amethyst, that's a bit of a lilac/violet color. In my story, her eyes were originally this color, but they were changed, along with the rest of her appearance, when she was placed up for adoption with the Grangers (to protect her since Voldemort was after her family and the like). When Hermione turned 15 the spell wore off, and she looked like she does now. Amethyst eyes are kind of the Delaveger trademark. Muses9: Don't get crazily excited for more multiple updates yet! I posted really fast at the beginning because I already had that much written up! Now I'm starting to make it up as I go along and it's taking a bit longer! Thanks for the enthusiasm though and all the Lady Moonglow hats and pins and stuff :-) This chapter's a tad bit short, but I like it.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Jo's fabulous characters. Alec is all mine.

Hi

We're your weathergirls

And have we got news for you You better listen

Get ready all you lonely girls

And leave those umbrellas at home

Humidity is rising Mmm..rising

Barometer is getting low How low girl?

According to our sources What sources now?

The street is the place to go We better hurry up

'Cause tonight for the first time

Just about half past ten

For the first time in history

It's gonna start raining men

It's raining men

Hallejulah

It's raining men

Amen

I'm gonna go out

I'm gonna let myself get

Absolutely soaking wet

It's raining men

Hallejulah

It's raining men

Every specimen

Tall blonde dark and lean

Rough and tough and strong and mean

God bless Mother Nature

She's a single woman too

She took over heaven

And she did what she had to do

She fought every Angel

She rearranged the sky

So that each and every woman

Could find the perfect guy

Ooh it's raining men

Yeah

Humidity is rising

Barometer is getting low

According to our sources

The street is the place to go

Cause tonight for the first time

Just about half past ten

For the first time in history

It's gonna start raining men

It's raining men

Hallejulah

It's raining men

Amen

-Weather Girls, _It's Raining Men_

……"I'm sorry, Devía. There was nothing we could do."…….

"_Nothing you could do my _ass_," Devía muttered savagely as she stormed into her room, slamming her door so hard it broke off one of its hinges. "_Why _am I not allowed a fairy-tale ending?! _Why_ does everything have to happen to me, WHY?!!" _

"_I think you need to get back in that bed and wake up on the other side, love."_

"_And _you_!" Devía turned on her mirror furiously, amethyst eyes flashing. "I do _not_ need to hear another _obnoxious_ remark from you, EVER. AGAIN!" _

_And in her rage, Devía flung the aged mirror clear across her bedroom. A CRASH and it shattered against the far wall, a thousand tiny pieces raining down on the floor._

"_WHAT the—!" Devía grunted in surprise as a heavy object slammed into her, sending her flying to the ground. "Ughh…" she opened her eyes slowly, but they snapped open at the extremely gorgeous teenage guy lying on the floor next to her. "Who are _you_? What are you doing in my ROOM?"_

"_Love!" The guy blinked warm latte-colored eyes that would make most girls melt, then focused on Devía delightedly, tossing some alluring chocolate brown hair out of his eyes for a windblown look that could have come out of Abercrombie and Witch itself. "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were upset to see me."_

"You_!" Devía gasped, jerking a few inches away from him." _Ohhhhhh_ no. No no NO. You… you can just climb right back in your mirror!" _

_  
The Mirror-guy looked at the shards of glass behind Devía in amusement. "_You_ broke it, love. Don't take it out on me."_

_  
"Wha…Wait." Devía's academic side took over. "How did you go from a mirror to a human?"_

_The guy pushed himself up and stretched his arms up toward the ceiling, an alluring grin spreading across his Romanesque, finely etched and tan face. "Your parents put the charm on. Brilliant people. I'll be forever in debt to this family for it."_

_Devía blinked. "You knew my parents?"_

_  
"Of course I did, love. Your parents and your great-grandparents and your great-grandparents seven times over. I helped Devereux achieve the look every girl at Hogwarts would _die_ for every day before he went to class. I complemented Aría _endlessly_ on her wedding day. Your parents _adored_ me. They knew that they could be killed at any time, so they charmed me to turn into a wizard in case the Manor was sacked and I was broken. Some complicated thing, too, took them the better part of two days to finish it."  
_

"Please_ tell me that was just a creative story." _

He frowned fondly at her, still managing to look annoyingly attractive. "Did you know that you're the first Delaveger in the last ten generations of Delavegers to find my comments…" He trailed off, waving his hand as if in search of the right word.

"_Offensive? Annoying as hell?" Devía supplied._

_He rolled his eyes over to her. "I think that's being a bit harsh, love."  
_

"_Really? I suppose the rest of my family must've just been _out of their minds—_Wait a second." Devía's eyes widened, and she leapt to her feet, crossing her arms. "You mean I've been _changing_ my clothes in _front_ of _you_ my entire life?" _

"_Nothing I haven't seen before," he said with a mischievous grin._

"_Oh, bloody _hell_…"Devía felt nauseous as he stood up and began nosing through her pictures. He held up one of a mud-spattered but exhilarated Devía and Liz, smirking like a fiend. "Shower much, love?"_

"Give_ me that," Devía said crossly, snatching the frame out of his hands. "And will you stop calling me love? I do have a name, you know." A thought occurred to her. "What's _your_ name?"_

_He yawned and abandoned the pictures, collapsing onto her bed with a contented sigh. "Wizard's Wardrobe Personalized Mirror, 2nd Edition, Product ID 47." He paused. "Although I _should_ have made 1st Edition…"_

_Devía groaned. " 'Wizard's Wardrobe Personalized Mirror, 2nd Edition, Product ID 47' is _not_ a name. And _get_ off my bed!"_

"_Sure it is," he said unconcernedly, closing his eyes in response._

"_Yeah? You can tell that to all the businesses that give you back your job application form when you apply for work, because you sure aren't staying here!" _

_He cracked an eye at her. "Well, then, what do you suggest, your brilliancy?" _

Devía bit her tongue. "Alec."

"_Alec." He tried out the name. "Not bad."_

"_For smart aleck." _

_Alec winced. "I think I'll stick with just Alec if you don't mind terribly, love."_

"_Good." Devía growled, running a hand exasperatedly through her long apple cinnamon hair. "Because my next choice would have been Dick." She smiled slightly in spite of herself. "And I'm not goingtotell you what that stands for."_

A/N: As always, please review! Also, if you have any questions, go for it! Hope y'all have a great time going back to school, I started today :-( Also, as a minor disclaimer, the last naming bit was stolen shamelessly from the TV show Dark Angel. Which should not have been cancelled!

Peace out

Lady Moonglow


	11. Girls Against Boys

A/N: Just found out my grandmother fell and might need surgery on her head for internal bleeding! Remember her guys! P.S.: Sabotaging Sev will show up soon enough

Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth

Imagine a world where the boys, boys could give birth

Would it be better that way?

Would it be more fun?

Would it be ecstasy?

Would it be a revolution?

Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth

Girls against boys, boys against the girls

Girls against boys, who would rule the world?

Girls against boys, boys against the girls

Girls against boys, who would rule the world?

Imagine a world where the girls, girls run the show

Imagine a world where the boys, boys were told no

Would there be peace on earth?, no more guns

Would it be sexier or mass confusion?

Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth

Well I cook for you and I clean for you

Two kids for you, in your checkbook

I'm on Slim Fast trying to get slimmer

But here you always wanna eat Big Mac's for dinner

My sneakers got soaked while walking through a puddle

And when we get through, you don't even wanna cuddle

You need to check in when you're hanging with your friends

Trying to be like daddy is

Being a man is hard like

I'ma take you to the 60's and burn my boxes

Yeah, and burn my boxes

You know what I'm saying?

Imagine a world where the girls, girls rule the earth

Imagine a world where the boys, boys could give birth

Would there be rocketships, way more fights?

Dress up everyday, more satellites?

Would Xena be queen? Would there be more magazines?

Topless bars, super-fast cars, 90,000 trips to Mars

Girls against boys, boys against the girls

Girls against boys, who would rule the world?

Girls against boys, boys against the girls

Girls against boys, who would rule the world?

-Vitamin C, Girls Against Boys

**Last time: **Devía laughed. "Wow, Mr. Weasley, I'm flattered considering I actually haven't _taught_ anything yet, but thanks all the same. Just remember that when Snape and I come after you Gryffindors." Ron laughed, and Devía looked at the clock above her desk. "You have forty-five minutes left, I'm sure if y'all stopped _talking_ and started _working_ you'd finish in plenty of time…"

"Talking? _Us_?" Ginny asked. "You've _got_ to be kidding. In the words of our beloved Charms professor Selena Umbridge, Merlin bless her, we don't _talk,_ we _whine._ We're rude, disrespectful, and thoughtless. We have no feelings whatsoever for anybody _but_ ourselves." Everyone but Blaise laughed.

"You sounded _exactly_ like her!" Terry exclaimed. "Exactly."

"_Alec." He tried out the name. "Not bad."_

"_For smart aleck." _

_Alec winced. "I think I'll stick with just Alec if you don't mind terribly, love."_

"_Good." Devía smirked. "Because my next choice would have been Dick."_

**Chapter 6**

"She is so _hot_!" Ron gawked later that week in the Upperclassmen Common Room. "We _finally_ got a hot professor! And _our_ age! _What_ are the chances—"

"_Ronald_." Luna rolled her eyes. "You are _insufferable_!"

"Oi, Luna, I'm just—your move, mate." Ron glanced across the chessboard at his best friend. "Haven't heard you comment on Lady Delicious Delaveger yet."

Lying on the floor nearby, holding a book to her nose, Ginny made a barfing noise. "Ronnikins, you are _such_ a _man_."

"Well, no kidding, Ginny, I hadn't noticed."

Harry frowned pensively at the board. "She seems all right."

"I heard the little firsties love her," Luna added helpfully.

"Personally, I think she's acting far too mysteriously," Cho said, her voice dripping with sweetness, head on Harry's shoulder.

"Personally, I think that's a little _rich_, coming from you," Ginny snapped belligerently, sitting up.

Harry sighed and finally moved a knight, only to have it pulverized by a gleeful Ron. "_Gin_—"

"_Harry_," Ginny said stubbornly, jutting her chin in the air. "_I_ think she's brilliant." She furrowed her brow in remembrance. "And what was your 'Are you _sure_ we haven't met?' about?"

Harry's eyes were tired of arguing as they studied her. "Gin, please, it was a misunderstanding and it's over. I don't know where it came from; I thought I recognized her voice from somewhere. Good?"

"You game is _off_, mate," Ron chortled as he demolished the other of Harry's knights.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Sure, Harry, nothing's up."

"Don't let her bother you, Potter, she's just jealous," Cho breathed in Harry's ear. Harry blinked but showed no signs of having even heard her. "She—"

"Professor Delaveger!" Ginny yelped in delight, waving wildly as Devía strolled into the Upperclassmen's Common Room, book in hand.

"Whoa, watch it! What is _with_ you today?" Ron exclaimed as Harry accidentally knocked half the remaining chess pieces off the board.

"Sorry," Harry muttered, digging his wand out of his pocket and tapping the pieces so they flew back to their former places. "No harm done."

"Professor in the Commons, Professor in the Commons," Terry bleated, looking up from his homework.

"Nice to see you too, Terry—_Alright_, I'm coming, hold your horses," Devía said with a grin at Ginny's incessant waving, maneuvering over to the chessboard. "You called, your redness?"

Ginny scowled in mock anger at Devía from the floor. "Would you stoop to hang out with us lowly commoners?"

"Oh, I don't know, I don't normally hold open court until Sunday—"

"Oi! Professor—What are we doing next class?" Ron asked, his eyes not leaving the chessboard.

"That," Devía plopped down on the ground beside Ginny and Luna, setting Royal Families: A History beside her, "is a trade secret, Ron. You should know _never_ to ask teachers about their lesson plans; we'll only give you detention. It's in our code."

"_Seriously_?" Ron tore his eyes away from the battle to stare at Devía in shock.

"No, you idiot, can't you hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice?" Cho retorted impatiently. "Honestly, how you're so smart in chess I'll _never_ know."

Ron's eye twitched in anger as he stared at her form, curled next to Harry. "Well, as least I'm smart at _something_," he said hotly, mimicking her tone. "Honestly, what he sees in you I'll _never_ know."

Cho untangled herself from Harry and leapt to her feet, her eyes flashing. "You are so positively rude it's _disgusting_!" she spat, stormed off to the dorms.

A silence followed her turbulent exit.

"Very diplomatic, Ronald," Luna said sarcastically.

Harry's eyes darkened, but he stared resolutely at the chessboard. Devía cocked her head up so she could see the pieces, and a small smirk appeared on her face. "Hey. Harry."

Harry's brilliant green eyes quicklysnapped up to meet her twinkling amethyst pools. "Professor?"

**Wow, someone my age, calling me that. That's a bit creepy. **It felt so strange to be among her old friends and not actually be one of them. No. _She_ was the professor now.

She wasn't really sure if she liked that or not.

Devía tilted her head toward the board. "D'you mind?"

Harry nodded limply at the board. "Go on."

"Doesn't matter, mate, you're still going down," Ron chortled, rubbing his hands together and assessing his new opponent.

"We'll see about that." Devía idly reached up and moved. "Oh, by the way, guys, when we're not in the classroom, call me Devía. 'Professor' just makes me feel as old as Sev." **And it really does sound a bit creepy.**

"Sev?" Ron choked delightedly. "You call him _Sev_?"

"Don't you dare ever let him catch you saying it, Ron, he'd give you detention from here till the end of _time_—your move."

"_Sev_," Ron cackled to himself, musing over the chessboard. "What are you _doing_?"

"Like I'm actually going to tell you my strategies."

"Devía," Luna began, at first awkwardly at using Devía's first name. "Um—Should I say Lady, too?"

"_Ugh_, hell no. What? Ron, you're slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. Step it up."

Ginny giggled as Ron turned pink and quickly moved.

"Where in America are you from, that you have a bit of a British tilt?" Luna asked.

"During which year, and I lived in Great Britain for a while…Thanks, Ron, checkmate."

"Wha-_AT_?" Ginny spluttered, leaping up and crawling closer to the low-lying table near her shell-shocked brother.

Ron's mouth was hanging open. "You…" his voice came out in a squeak. "You _beat_ me…in _three_ plays…how…how…?"

Devía winked cheekily at him. "Trade secrets, darling. Don't play with fire if you can't take the heat—Ginny, is there an off button?" she asked with a grin as Ginny continued to snicker to herself.

Ginny shook her head weakly. "You're…you're _funny_."

Devía stared at her blankly. "Well, _thanks_, Gin, I do appreciate the feedback; you know, whatever floats your boat, braids your hair, flies your broom and all that… now, Luna, about your question."

Ginny glanced absently at Harry and then quickly elbowed him hard, hissing, "You're _smiling_!"

The small smile on Harry's face disappeared and he stared hard at the chessboard. "I was not."

"Um…Where were you born?"

"We both sound like five year olds, and you were too!"

Devía ticked off her fingers. "Born here…Moved to the States and lived in Los Angeles for two years, Paradise—um, a tropical island—for four months, New York City for a few as well, and D.C…."

"Wow, you get around," Ron commented, affectionately putting away his chess pieces.

"Why did you go to all those places?" Luna asked, making herself comfortable as she leaned her back against the sofa.

For a moment, Devía's violet eyes clouded, but they cleared so fast Ginny was sure that she had imagined it. "For each location there is a _long_ story. Really long."

"Ooooo, tell us one!" Ginny begged, rolling on her stomach and resting her chin on her fist.

Devía casually flicked a lock of hair out of her face. What Ginny had begun to label as Devía's "Professor Look" appeared on Devía's face for the first time since she had entered the common room. "Oh, but I think you have something _so_ much better and much more important to do… like homework, for example. Chop chop, get to work."

Harry's head whipped around to stare intently at Devía, and Ginny gave him an odd look. "What is _with_ you?"

"Oh, we never do homework until the night before," Ron said with a yawn and a longing gaze at the pillow on the couch behind Luna.

Devía frowned at him. "And you're probably one of those people who whine like a siren when they get a low mark—What in the _bloody_ hell?!" Devía's voice had changed direction and tone so rapidly that Ron thought Devía was still addressing him. He opened his mouth indignantly before he noticed a hush sweep through the common room.

Seeing Harry stiffen out of the corner of her eye and fully expecting to see Umbridge, Ginny turned with dread, so she completely wasn't prepared for the sight that met her eyes.

The extremely _gorgeous_ sight.

"Alec, _what_ are you _doing_ here?" Devía finally wailed in dismay, jumping to her feet. **Even if the prat **is** taller than I am, I can still look imposing. Glare, Devía, glare.**

The godlike male creature strolled farther into the common room. "What, you miss me?"

"_Miss_ you? If I recall correctly, I happily _kissed_ you goodbye weeks ago!"

The man whom Devía had called Alec clucked in a mother-hennish way, flashing her a charming grin. "Now, now, Devie, that's no way to say hello! You aren't getting smart with me, are you, love?"

Devía blinked and crossed her arms coolly. "Am I getting _smart_ with you? How would _you_ know?"

"Ouch," Terry laughed to Draco.

Alec's grin turned sheepish. "I suppose I set myself up for that one, didn't I?"

"Basically."

Alec ambled to the plush lounge chair nearest Devía and claimed it, apparently not noticing or caring that the entire common room was listening to his conversation with their Head of House. "You really want to know the truth, love?"

"_That_ would be helpful."

"You know how you got me a job at the Agency? Well, the whole place is afraid of me. Honestly, it sucks, Devie, it's no fun at all. _I_ can't help that I was made perfect. They send me out to do all the impossible jobs and then they think I can run all right!"

Devía grinned wryly, unsympathetically. "Hang in there, Alec dear, retirement is only forty years away."

Alec glared at Devía and continued his great melodrama. "I mean, last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, and then I thought to myself, 'Where the hell is the ceiling?!' "

Ginny and Hannah had begun to giggle unstoppably throughout Alec's whole spiel, and now Terry and Draco were staring at the amazingly good-looking intruder in horror.

"And guess what, love," Alec continued, "_Then_ I remembered I was in Russia! Working on Merlin knows what, and the only reason I even _know_ how to speak Russian is because of your great-great-great—"

Devía, who knew exactly what Alec was going to say next, narrowed her eyes at Alec and shook her head. It was such an anonymous movement that he was the only one who caught it.

"—tutoring," Alec ad-libbed.

"You speak _Russian_?" Ron asked Devía in awe, but she ignored him, instead shaking her head condescendingly at Alec and muttering, "_Prat_."

"And so I decided to quit and come stay with you!" Alec finished with a flourish and an enticing smile.

Devía rolled her eyes, but a slight grin graced her features. She heaved the dramatic sigh of the extremely put-out, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground in decision. "Well, don't expect me to jump for joy."

Alec pressed a hand over his heart. "Aw, you didn't mean it, love." He reached out to take Devía's book away and give her a hug, but Devía's hand flashed out and caught his wrist.

"_Don't_ touch the book." Pausing, Devía finally noticed the eyes of eight people on her and Alec. "Oh. Everyone, this is, em…" She disgustedly eyed Alec up and down, "This is my…em…"

"_Good_ friend," Alec supplied suavely, winking at Hannah, causing the poor, innocent girl to flush. "Alec. At your service, night or day."

"My _God_, do _not_ flirt with the students," Devía gritted out as she dragged Alec out of the chair. "Let's go."

"Go? Go where?" Alec whined as Devía lugged him purposefully across the common room. "I just got here."

"We're going to have a nice chat with a _delightful_ woman," Devía could be heard saying as the portrait hole swung shut.

"Haha, Dolores, delightful my arse," Ron muttered, but Ginny was still smiling. "They're funny together."

"You think _everyone's_ funny," Harry said. He moodily ran a hand through his messy hair and glanced at the now closed portrait hole.

Ginny studied the worry lines that seemed to be permanently etched in his face. "No, I actually don't find you all that funny."

A/N: As always, reviews would be lovely! I love hearing from you!

Peace out

Lady Moonglow


	12. The Last Dance

A/N: The exact years in which this story takes place is going to be strictly AU, I think. Devia (Hermione) is caught up in a specific recent event, one whose effects will eventually leave her no other option but to return to the wizarding world. I'll attempt to portray that event as accurately as possible as it comes along, (because it had a HUGE impact on Devia's life), but as I wasn't there, I don't know what it was exactly like. Here's a little look into Devia's extensive past life (remember now, she's living as a Muggle).

A/N: A note to Archmage of Necromancy: Harry and co. were _not_ held back two years; the intense war caused them to literally miss two years of their schooling. That's why, after the war ended and they were 18, they were still technically in _Sixth_ Year. Everyone at Hogwarts is behind two years of education, so the temporary Upper House had to be added. A bit clearer, I hope?

Sun's up, it's a little after twelve.

Make breakfast for myself, leave the work for someone else.

People say, they say that it's just a phase

They tell me to act my age...

WELL I AM!!!

On this Perfect day, nothing's standing in my way.

On this perfect day, when nothing can go wrong.

It's the perfect day, tomorrow's gonna come too soon.

I could stay, forever as I am...

On this perfect day!!!

Sun's down, a little after ten.

I pick up all my friends, in my Mercedes Benz.

Wake up!! Don't tell me it's just a dream,

cause when I've had enough you'll hear me say.

Now don't you try to rain on my...

PERFECT DAY!!

Nothing's standing in my way.

On this perfect day, when nothing can go wrong.

It's the perfect day, tomorrow's gonna come too soon.

I could stay, forever as I am...

On this perfect day!!!

I'm in the race but I already won.

And getting there can be half the fun.

So don't stop me till I'm good and done.

Don't you try to rain on my...

PERFECT DAY!!

It's the perfect day, nothing's gonna bring me down.

I could stay forever as I am

On this perfect day, nothings standing in my way

On this perfect day, when nothing can go wrong

On this perfect day

On this perfect day

_-_Hoku, _Perfect Day_

When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius

The Age of Aquarius

Aquarius! Aquarius!

Harmony and understanding

Sympathy and trust abounding

No more falsehoods or derisions

Golden living dreams of visions

Mystic crystal revelation

And the mind's true liberation

Aquarius! Aquarius!

When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars

Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius

The Age of Aquarius

Aquarius! Aquarius!

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

Let the sun shine, Let the sun shine in

The sun shine in

The Fifth Dimension, _Age of Aquarius_

"_Do you see them?"_

"_Over there, aren't they?" _

"_Oh my God, what is he _wearing_—?"_

_A splutter and rustle burst forth from the thick vegetation on a hill high above a tiny camp on Paradise Island off the Pacific Ocean._

_A head popped up from the bushes, one with amethyst purple eyes and long, sea blown apple cinnamon hair. "_Sssshhh_," she hissed sharply to her cackling friend, before losing a measure of her reserve and collapsing into hushed gales of laughter. _

"_Oh…. Oh man… must… must breathe!" Devía gasped at last, a hand on her stomach. "Need…air!"_

_Liz Leon by now was a helpless ball on the grass. Devía shook her head with a small, mischievous grin, pulling her best friend unsteadily to her feet before glancing back over the waving waist-high sea grass toward the darkening trees. _

"_Can you believe we've been on this stupid island one entire month and no search parties have even shown up yet?" Liz asked, sweeping some strawberry blond hair out of the way as the warm ocean breeze whipped it into her face._

"Well, in addition to the schooner being severely driven off course, the fact that the mast completely totaled the GPS and radio at the very beginning of the storm probably didn't help any." Devía chucked. "Don't worry; I'm sure someone will find us eventually. This was one class trip blown to hell, though. Quite honestly, I'm surprised we've lasted this long. Especially with the whole class division thing. I mean, I can understand their little group always considered us rivals and the like, but them completely splitting_ with us to rough it on their own? Now _that_ was stupid. They're seventeen years old, for goodness sake; you'd think they'd have grown up by now. This whole month has been straight out of a movie. My life hasn't been is this much danger since I left Great Britain."_

"_Think our infiltrators will be alright?" Liz stared down at two people in particular among the group of teens buzzing around a Survivor-like dwelling. "I mean, us lasting this long I can see, but _them_? Their camp sucks. They're lucky the last bad storm was the one that stranded us here."_

_Devía laughed. "Trust me, if Lucy and Shawn have the nerve to wear _that_, they'll have the nerve to last the night. Come on, let's get back."_

_Liz allowed herself one last giggle before ducking after Devía in the underbrush._

"_We're baaaa-ack!" Liz trilled as she and Devía strolled up into their tree city. It had taken them the better part of their time on the island to build, but all the hard work had been worth it. The place resembled something out of _The Swiss Family Robinson_, vine ladders, bridges, and all. _

"_Haha!" Derek Kennedy's sandy blond head swung upside down from his hammock above them. "Almost thought you guys ran off with dumb and dumber back at the other camp." _

"_And you seem _so_ worried about it, too," Devía countered, playfully swinging him back and forth as he hung in front of her. Derek's clear blue eyes gleamed roguishly in reply. As Derek pointedly leaned closer to her face, Devía closed her eyes and tilted her head, sucking in a breath before their lips locked in hot tropical passion, Devía supporting his head as she kissed him upside-down..._

"_Break it up, Romeo; we've got a party to crash!" Warren Callahan cheerfully whacked Derek from behind, and Derek spluttered, falling on his head with a _BANG!

"Warren_!" Devía's mouth dropped open in amused disbelief as Derek sprang indignantly to his feet, ignoring any resulting laughter. As he gave Warren his dirtiest glare, Warren exclaimed, "Puh-_lease_! You _knew_ you had it coming! After what you and Ian pulled this morning, you had to _expect_ it!" He paused for a breath, eyeing Derek warily. "Well? What do you have to say to _that_?"_

_Derek's face morphed into a pleasant expression. "I never argue with idiots, Callahan. I attempt to avoid getting dragged down to their level and watching while they beat me with experience." With a snooty smirk, Derek dignifiedly offered his arm to Devía. She took it with a good-natured smile, and the couple ambled imperiously down the vine bridge as Liz crowed, "_Oooooo_! He got you _good_!"_

"_Aw, shut up," Warren grumbled lightheartedly, grabbing the solar radio that had so far only managed to pick up some random Asian station as Ian O'Bryan and Katie Lawrence waltzed by, blanket in one hand and M & M's in another. Had they not been stranded on an island, they would have looked the image of fully prepared, casual picnickers ready to go to the beach. "Still don't know where she finds those damn M & M's."_

"_Everybody dance now!" Devía hummed to herself as the bonfire crackled and blazed, the wind gently blowing her hair away from her face, the reflection of the moonlight giving herself and her friends an otherworldly glow. In the full moon, the ocean seemed to disappear into pure nothingness, waves occasionally breaking with a soft _whoosh_ on the white sand beach that_ _stretched nearly a half mile in the distance before curving out of sight._

"_We really need to get rid of that thing," Derek tapped the offending radio._

"_Do we now?"_

"_You're addicted to the bloody radio!"_

_  
"Now you're talking Brit. Besides, you know as well as I do you're more addicted to it than _me_. Plus, I highly doubt the Japanese radio station has been playing their version of _Everybody Dance Now_."_

"_And that's _your_ bloody fault. If you would have just grabbed the battery operated radio instead of the bloody solar one before the ship went down we'd be set for life. We could happily live out our days on a tropical island paradise, no school, no work, no stress, no parents and reputations, and no bloody annoying as hell taxes. Just pounding music and a mini Tarzan and Jane, both oddly looking a little bit like the both of us, running around and swinging from the trees…." _

"_In Great Britain, you would get _shot_ if you said that word that many times in five seconds." Devía fondly nestled closer into his side, sticking her hands into her jacket pockets. She grinned as she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "And who said I only wanted two?"_

_  
Derek choked on an M & M, spitting it up while Ian gleefully added a branch the size of a small tree to the fire. Last minute, he frantically jumped out of the way, his white blond hair flying into his face, as the fire sent out a loud CRACK, a burst of flame, and a blast of heat. Liz shrieked back into Devía. She cackled as both Derek and Warren applauded Ian's apparent ingenuity or lack thereof. _

"_Men and fire, why is that always a bad combination?" Katie growled as Ian took a bow. Devía laughed, "That's right, just go ahead and make the SOS smoke signals now so all the ships that happen to pass by will see us."_

"_Haha! That's great!" Warren leapt to his feet as Ian crowed in a voice far deeper than his own, "_Let's do it_!", flapping his jacket at the tower of flames._

_  
"Ahhh…" Devía, Liz, and Katie once again exchanged farcical smiles. "Just kidding, boys, just kidding…"_

"_Oh, we're not finished with you slackers yet!" Derek waved an accusing finger at the three girls. "Then men folk do all the work while the womenfolk sit and watch? It's just not done!"_

"_And you passed US History with what grade, Der?" Devía swerved to avoid flying sand as Derek flipped on the radio and retorted, "Let's see what the old Japanese guy has to say about _that_! I bet he'd agree with me."_

_Instead, English blared from the speakers, and the entire group eyed the radio as if it had grown another antenna. _

_Liz narrowed her delicately shaped hazel eyes. "Time out… I _know_ this song!"_

_Devía sprung to her feet animatedly, grabbing Derek's hand. "Let's dance, come _on_!"_

"_Age of Aquarius!" Katie exclaimed in delight, clapping her hands as if she was seven again and had just sat on Santa's lap. "You guys, this is the most exciting thing that's happened to us in a _whole month_!"_

"Yes!_ Haha, the _chanting_ song!" Warren tossed a handful of moss into the fire to complete the mood, and more smoke steamed out. "I have _always_ wanted to dance around a _fire_ on an _island_ in the middle of _nowhere_ at _midnight_!"_

"_Acting a bit strange, are we?" Liz asked warily, avoiding his hand._

_Warren winked at her. "Well, m'dear, when the moon is full…"_

_She spluttered and whacked him on the shoulder as Derek and Devía swung by, their feet barely touching the sand as they spun to the music._

"_Damn, they can dance," Katie whispered to Ian in awe._

_He shrugged. "What else's new? That's ma' boy!" he whistled to Derek as the song changed to a slower beat, Derek hooting, "Turn it _up_!" as he and Devía dug into the sand._

"_Let's go, guys!" Devía grabbed Ian's hand, Derek caught Liz, and, cracking up, they formed a circle around the fire, twirling around it and belting out, "THERE'S…the sunshine! _There's_…the sunshine!"_

"_Sing it to me, brothas, raise UP yo voices!" Ian rattled like a gospel singer, throwing his hands into the air, Liz laughing so hard she began to cry. "Let it shine on innnnn!"_

"_Sometimes I have this weird feeling about our sanity!" Devía yelled across the flames._

"_That's because we're crazy, _duh_!" Katie shouted back, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world._

"_WHOOOOOOO-OOOOO!" Derek threw back his head and whooped into the steamy night air, Ian and Warren quickly following his act with typical man-gone-wild noises. The girls blanched when the three guys gazed at them expectantly._

"_No." Katie shook her head, laughing nervously." _Ohhhhhh,_ no you don't!"_

"_Come on, try it!" Ian called. _

"_DO IT, DO IT!" Warren hooted._

"_We can't compete with your obvious expertise," Devía replied flatly._

"_Nooo way." Liz shook her head. "Un- _uh_."_

_Derek gave her the puppy-dog eye plead that only Derek could pull off. "Sometimes when things get crazy you just gotta scream," he whispered huskily in his deep voice, breathing into her ear, "_Do it_."_

_Devía's sparkling lilac eyes seemed to communicate with her two friends, _**On three**_, while the boys grinned triumphantly at each other, Ian giving Derek a thumbs-up as Devía, Katie, and Liz absolutely howled into the tropical night._

_A/N: As always, please review :-) Thanks for all the encouragement!_


	13. We Will Rock You

A/N: To my reviewers: You guys are **great**, thanks a BUNCH! WaterNaiad13, olah, Sarah, holliy, and Muses9, tons of hugs from me! Rain-witch-85: I hope to go all the way, too, but it'll probably start to come a bit slower, as I have exams next week :-( Waternaiad 13, you're right, and somebody _will_ find out about who Devía really is soon… Right now though I'm planning on wrapping up any further details on Hermione's past and then getting some HarryHermione action in motion…

Buddy you're a boy make a big noise  
Playin' in the street gonna be a big man some day  
You got mud on yo' face  
You big disgrace  
Kickin' your can all over the place

We will we will rock you  
We will we will rock you

Buddy you're a young man hard man  
Shoutin' in the street gonna take on the world some day  
You got blood on yo' face  
You big disgrace  
Wavin' your banner all over the place

We will we will rock you  
We will we will rock you

Buddy you're an old man poor man  
Pleadin' with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

You got mud on your face  
You big disgrace  
Somebody better put you back in your place

We will we will rock you  
We will we will rock you

-Queen, _We Will Rock You_

**Last time: **My _God_, do _not_ flirt with the students," Devía gritted out as she dragged Alec out of the chair. "Let's go."

"Go? Go where?" Alec whined as Devía lugged him purposefully across the common room. "I just got here."

"We're going to have a nice chat with a _delightful_ woman," Devía could be heard saying as the portrait hole swung shut.

"Haha, Dolores, delightful my arse," Ron muttered, but Ginny was still smiling. "They're funny together."

"You think _everyone's_ funny," Harry said. He moodily ran a hand through his messy hair and glanced at the now closed portrait hole.

Ginny studied the worry lines that seemed to be permanently etched in his face. "No, I actually don't find you especially funny."

"_DO IT, DO IT!" Warren hooted._

"_We can't compete with your obvious expertise," Devia replied flatly._

"_Nooo way." Liz shook her head. "Un- _uh_."_

_Derek gave her the puppy-dog eye plead that only Derek could pull off. "Sometimes when things get crazy you just gotta scream," he whispered huskily whispered in his deep voice, breathing into her ear, "_Do it_."_

_Devia's sparkling lilac eyes seemed to communicate with her two friends. _**On three**_, while the boys grinned triumphantly at each other, Ian giving Derek a thumbs-up as Devia, Katie, and Liz absolutely howled into the tropical night._

**Chapter 7 **

"Thirty minutes down, twenty minutes left. I can't believe I'm doing this." Devía muttered as Ginny and Terry, followed by the rest of the Upper class, trickled up to her desk and placed their homework on it, chatting animatedly. "That doesn't you can talk like class is over!" she yelled and grinned briefly at Hannah as the Hufflepuff left her scroll and edged back into her seat beside Luna. Devía twirled her wand in her fingers, lounging back in her chair, idly, throwing a glance at her new Defense co-teacher, who had entered the room minutes before and who was currently spinning in circles in his swivel chair. "I really must be losing my mind."

"What's that you say?" Alec pushed on the floor with his feet, sending his chair shooting over by her desk. He skimmed interestedly through the papers piled on her desk. "What's on the schedule for the rest of today?"

"Quite amazing, I believe you just rhymed. And you're being a bit nosy, aren't you?"

"Don't I have a right to be? I am a professor now, you know, and a poet but you didn't know it."

"_Don't_ remind me, and don't let it go to your head." Devía reached into a desk drawer, pulled out a hair band and stuck it between her teeth as she collected her long hair into a ponytail. "You could charm a snake, by the way," she said through the hair band.

With a flourish, Alec pulled the hair band out of her mouth and finished the ponytail for her. "I thought that was the point."

"Touché. She _is_ a piece of work." Devía appraisingly ran a hand through the hair that now rested smoothly against her head. "And must you always finish doing my hair for me? People will start to wonder."

"Hey, I didn't watch ten generations of women in your family do their hair for nothing. Ugly little monster, too, isn't she? She obviously has no sense of fashion whatsoever; I can't see how she and that daughter of hers' are even related," Alec mused to himself.

Devía laughed and elbowed him as Blaise finally strolled back to his seat. "_God_, Alec, manners."

"_That_ was something we didn't learn at Mirror school."

"_Obviously_, it explains your lack of it… Class," Devía said with a smile, turning her back to Alec and raising her voice. " Carrying on…. Let's take a break from review. Anything exciting I should know about that happen this week?"

Ginny grinned and raised her hand. "My brother got engaged!"

"Wow, which one?" Devía asked before realizing her error. **Crap**.

"Percy. He's third oldest…." Ginny frowned thoughtfully, shoving a lock of red hair behind her ear. "How did you know I had more than one brother?"

Devía laughed and mentally crossed her fingers. "It's a small world, Ms. Weasley. It doesn't take long to be warned about the huge Weasley family when you eat lunch every day with professors. I don't know how you do it."

Ginny seemed to buy that. "Oh, you learn to cope." She grinned evilly. "And after 18 years of living with my twin brothers Fred and George you can't help but learn a thing or two…"

"Yeah." Draco turned and pointing an accusing finger at Ginny. "That one's got a _mean_ bat-bogey hex. Mean!"

"You asked for it," Ginny shot back, crossing her arms and grinning playfully at him.

"Well, tell Percy I said congratulations," Devía said. **Percy getting married, who would have ever thought?** She paused, her eyes darkening. **Then again, look at me… **"Okay, Going back to the stuff life is made of, I've briefly glanced through some of your descriptions of your previous Defense experience, as well as what you want to accomplish this semester. I've decided that our next class will be a combination of Defense and Care of Magical Creatures, so instead of coming to class meet at the field behind Hagrid's old hut. "

"Wait—you mean we won't be needing _books_?" Blaise drawled, lazily tilting his chair back on its back two legs. "Headmistress Umbridge _clearly_ outlined that material you are to cov—"

"Anyone can read books, Mr. Zambini," Devía said coolly. "Few can fight in a war and survive."

"Hear, hear," Ron said under his breath, and even Harry took his eyes off his desk corner long enough to survey Devía with some sort of interest.

Blaise's eyes darkened and he slammed all four legs of his chair back to earth, leaning across his desk threateningly. "The Headmistress will _not_ be pleased about this, Delave—"

Devía fought to keep her mouth from falling open at Blaise's nerve. "That's _Professor_ Delaveger to you, Zambini," She leveled dangerous amethyst eyes on Blaise. "And your _girlfriend's_ _mother_ isn't teaching this class, is she?"

_We're saved._ Ginny felt Terry's hand find hers' under the desk and give it a relieved squeeze, and he murmured into her ear, "Well, at least we know for _sure_ our Head isn't in Umbridge's corner." Ginny grinned at him, and she just barely heard Hannah muttering, "Get him, get him, _oooo_ give it to him good…."

"Mr. Zambini," Devía choose her words carefully, thanking God for the perfect reason to kick the little informer out of her class. **I never did like him anyway. **"I'm going to give you one warning, and one warning only. I can only please one person per day, Mr. Zambini." She smoothly slid from her chair and to her feet, crossing her arms in finality. "Today isn't your day. Tomorrow really isn't looking too good either. So you have two options: You can stay or you can _get out of my classroom_." It was obvious which choice Devía favored as she spat out the last few words. "Just _don't_ interrupt me again." She paused. "Oh, and forty points from Slytherin, Mr. Zambini, for your utter _lack _of respect." **Snape's gonna** kill **me for this.** Devía oddly felt like singing a song she had heard from her wanderings in Muggleland, _I've got the power!_

Blaise's face twitched furiously. A moment and a door slam later he grabbed his books and was gone.

"How unfortunate," Devía said carelessly, trying to hide a triumphant smile, while Ginny and her seven remaining classmates gaped at Devía with a mixture of awe and regret.

"Pro…Professor!" Terry finally stuttered. "The pull he has with Umbridge is incredible, he's in her circle! He's going to get you _sacked_!"

"Oh, Mr. Boot, you underestimate me." Devía waved her hand at him unconcernedly. "If Mr. Zambini wants to sic his dog of a future mother-in-law on me, by all means let him try."

Luna gasped as Draco chuckled into his hand. "But she's your _employer_!"

"Not voluntarily. I would have gotten this job with or without her approval." She gave Harry a slight smile. "It's one of those rare cases when a name and a legacy can actually be useful."

"Isn't _that_ the truth," Ron muttered.

Harry attempted a weak smile, surprise and, strangely enough, suspicion registering on his face in a rare show of emotions, before he quickly returned back to an island unto himself, managing to look completely detached in a room full of people.

Devía frowned to herself. **Harry, what's happened to you? **"Anyhow, going back…. Who here was paying enough attention to tell me what we were discussing before our delightful interruption? Anyone?"

"Next class," Terry yelled out. "Combo of Defense and Care of Magical Creatures."

Devía's eyebrow went up in surprise. "Well done, Mr. Boot, you've impressed me." She sighed impatiently as another thought struck her. "And, while I'm at it, I might as well introduce this other magical creature on display to my left…"

"_Magical_," Hannah sighed dreamily as she gazed at Alec.

"My new co-Defense teacher, Professor, um…" Devía scrunched up her nose at Alec thoughtfully, and he grinned at her in a challenge before winking at Hannah. "Smart."

"Pardon me?" asked Ginny as Alec's eyes tore back to Devía with record speed. He repeated in a disbelieving voice, "_Smart_?"

"Umm- _hmmmm_," Devía continued, more confidently now, a devilish glint in her amethyst eyes and a smirk to rival the old Malfoy on her face. "Professor Alec S. Smart."

"Well, _shit_, love—"

"Professor _Smart_," Devía said pointedly, laughter in her eyes, "Do try to live up to your name with addressing your class."

Hannah laughed into Luna's ear, "It's as if he didn't know his own name."

"What's wrong with Alec Smart?" Ron whispered loudly.

"Alec _S_. Smart," Ginny added, she and Hannah collapsing into giggles. "What an _awful_ name."

"Oh, especially when he fills out those forms that ask for the last name first," Devía added with a mischievous grin. "He has to write _Smart, Ale_—"

"_Yes_, I have a scholarly comment to make," Alec interrupted, glaring at her before turning to the class and flashing Hannah, Ginny, Cho, and Luna a charismatic grin. "Yes, my name is Alec Smart. Because in America I am renown for my uncontested brilliance—"

Devía choked and began to cough loudly, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes twinkling impishly at Alec.

Terry smiled and whispered to Ginny, "This is going to be an _interesting_ year."

"Think there's something between them?" she asked.

"—And yes, Devi—Professor Delaveger and I go _way_ back—"

"Though not as far as you'd like to think," Devía cut in.

"—And, I just wanted to let you know, Devie, that— that little nose-scrunchie think you just did— whoops, there it goes again— that was particularly attractive."

"Oh my _God_," Devía groaned as a bell sounded and papers rustled loudly. "How _dare_ you just waltz into my class like that? Thanks to _you_ we wasted _valuable_ learning time. Class is dismissed," she added in a louder voice. "Don't forget, if you come here Monday and nobody's here, don't panic. There's a reason."

Ron grinned at Alec as he tossed his books into his book bag. "He's about our age as well, wouldn't you say? Think he plays Quiddich?"

"Who cares?" Hannah giggled.

"Hannah, I wouldn't go getting excited just yet," Luna warned as Devía marched over to Alec, shoving his shoulder back and crossing her arms. "There seems to be one very important person in front of you."

"The fact that she's amazingly wealthy, famous, powerful, and gorgeous probably doesn't help," Ron added, as Alec could be heard complaining, " You know, love, just plain old Alec used to have _so _much sex appeal—"

'Oh, but now every school brain will positively drool over you, _darling_."

"Merlin, love, sometimes I wonder how I _stand_ you!"

"You wonder how _you_ stand _me_?"

"Er." Draco grinned as the eight made their way out of the Defense room. "Somehow I doubt those two have a harmonious relationship."

A/N: Same old same old…. Please review!

Peace out

Lady Moonglow


	14. Secret Agent Man

A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! Here's a little more action on the Hogwarts front. For all you who worry about Alec, don't; he's worked for Devía's family for hundreds of years, and he basically sees her as the beloved twin sister (not that he's a girl but they're pretty much the same age) that he loves to annoy, and we all know how Devía feels about him.

To my reviewers: twinsies, big fan, and vain adonis—you all made my day, thanks for reading! : -) Miss Elvira Dark: thanks for the constructive criticism; I'll try to work on that in the future. Esos: So far Draco is Ginny's friend, but Ron and Harry don't like him very much because he is, well, Draco Malfoy. Rain-witch-85: thanks for the endless compliments, I plan on updating the next four or five chapters about every other day, but after that it stretch between may get a bit longer, I'll probably write in if it'll be something extreme, like a week. So with all that being said…On with the story!

There's a man who leads a life of danger.

To everyone he meets he stays a stranger.

With every move he makes another chance he takes.

Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow.

Secret Agent Man

Secret Agent Man

They've given you a number and taken away your name.

Beware of pretty faces that you find.

A pretty face can hide an evil mind.

Oh, be careful what you say,

Or you will give yourself away.

Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow.

Secret Agent Man

Secret Agent Man

They've given you a number and taken away your name.

Swinging on the Riviera one day

And then lying in a Bombay alley next day.

Oh, don't you let the wrong words slip,

while kissing persuasive lips.

Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow.

Secret Agent Man

Secret Agent Man

They've given you a number and taken away your name.

Secret Agent Man

**-**Johnny Rivers, _Secret Agent Man_

**Last time:** "Hannah, I wouldn't go getting excited just yet," Luna warned as Devía marched over to Alec, shoving his shoulder back and crossing her arms. "There seems to be one very important person in front of you."

"The fact that she's amazingly wealthy, famous, powerful, and gorgeous probably doesn't help," Ron added, as Alec could be heard complaining, " You know, love, just plain old Alec used to have _so _much sex appeal—"

'Oh, but now every school brain will positively _drool_ over you, _darling_."

"Merlin, love, sometimes I wonder how I _stand_ you!"

"You wonder how _you_ stand _me_?"

"Er." Draco grinned as the eight made their way out of the Defense room. "Somehow I doubt those two have a harmonious relationship."

**Chapter 8 **

"Where are you going?"

"As if I'd tell you."

"Can I come?"

"No! And you sound juvenile, by the way."

"Shut up, love, why must you continue to wound me? And why not?"

Devía paused halfway to the door of the small, compact Head of Upperclassmen common that she shared with Alec (to her dismay). "Fine," she relented. "Come on, but hurry it up, will you? I'm already late for a very important date."

"_Love_!" Alec gasped in fake horror, staggering backward before grabbing a dark robe and throwing it on over his Muggle clothes. "And here you've had me thinking that _I_ was _The_ _One_!"

"You _prat_!" Devía growled, whacking him as he came up, laughing, beside her. She tapped the portrait hole and it slid to one side, letting the pair out into the forth-floor corridor. "_Do_ try to be serious tonight, Alec darling, I'm showing you around for your benefit. We don't want you coming off as a complete idiot, wandering, lost, around the very school you're supposed to be teaching at."

"_We_. You mean _you_ don't want to come off as a complete idiot for knowing _me_, a complete idiot."

Devía rolled her eyes. **Crap, still have to make small talk for five more minutes.** "Way to go, Al, you just past first year."

"I'm sharper than I look, love. And you mean this school actually missed this year's Party-School Reject List?"

"Yes, welcome to Devía's presentation of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Secret Night Life of Your Hogwarts Teachers 101. And _quiet_, it's after hours!"

"We're professors, love, remember? The kiddies'll get over it. And what in the _hell_ was with that name today?"

**Sometimes I just surpass myself.** Devía could help but grin at the memory. "Let's face it, Alec, I gave you your first name, so I have just as much of a right to finish the job. I actually thought the word the initials formed was especially clever, didn't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, well, you know what, love, you can just _wipe_ that smirk of your face and stick it _right_ up your cute little Alec S. Smart—"

"_Sssssh_!"

"Don't you _ssssh_ me! I'll _ssssh_ you back!"

"Honestly," Devía groaned, throwing up her hands and pulling her cloak tighter around her as the night castle air chilled and the two descended deeper into Hogwarts, "You're worse than Ron and Harry in the library. What I did in my life to get stuck with you I'll never know."

Alec held his right hand up to her face and made it pretend to talk, opening and closing it rapidly. "Sticks and stones, love, sticks and stones…"

She swatted it away and knocked twice on the portrait frame of a ferociously boiling cauldron. "Be good, young 'un, he may very well hex you if you aren't."

The portrait swung open with a CREAK, a thin beam of light spilling into the deserted corridor. "Lady Delaveger, so good of you to. finally. join us."

Devía scowled at the hooked nose man in the portrait hole and said pointedly, "I didn't know you were funny, _Sev_."

"On the contrary, I like to think of it as sarcasm, but the more optimistic tend to call it dark humor. Who's that with you?"

"Oh." Devía stuck a thumb over her shoulder in Alec's hulking shape. "Alec Smart, my co-Defense professor. Surprisingly, I'd have to say you can trust him; he pretty much agrees with me on everything."

"So much for freedom of opinion," Alec muttered as Sev moved aside. He and Devía stepped into Sev's Head of Slytherin Common that looked more out of a Muggle children's book of a witch's den. Devía's eyes shot open in both amazement and academic curiosity at the motherload of potions materials, books, and vials neatly stacked to the ceiling, several cauldrons of assorted-sizes streaming in various stands around the room.

"Nice place you got here," Alec commented, squinting to read the names on some of the flasks in the dim candlelight; making a sour face after he did.

"After twenty years, everything has been put in its place."

"Really, if it was me I'd have two times twenty years' worth of crap piled up."

"_Alec_," Devía hissed in a threatening voice, jabbing the mischievous brown-haired bombshell with her elbow. "You wanted to see me…us?" she asked Sev with a smile.

"Yes." Sev retreated farther back into his quarters fit for potions fanatics of all ages.

"He should advertise this place," Alec whispered to Devía, dodging a spider as it dropped from the dripping ceiling. "I'd even go in it with him. I can see it now: Thank you for choosing Snape and Smart Corporation, where sarcasm and scares are only two of the services we offer."

"_Shush_! Honestly, you are _worse_ than Ron _ever_ was!"

"Oooo. _That_ was a diss."

Snape had, apparently, opted on ignoring Alec. **Can't exactly say I blame the guy. **"I think you should be introduced to at least two members of the uncorrupted faculty, Professors Wood and Tonks."

**And can feel a **heat wave** rising in the room?** "Devía Delaveger, called me Devía," she said with a warm smile, offering her hand to the still-adorable former Quiddich captain and a pretty bright pink-haired woman Devía didn't recognize.

Devía glanced at Sev. "We're all a bit young, aren't we? I mean, except you—em, no offense or—Well, never mind. Even Umbridge's daughter is under age thirty."

"We were hired on as a last minute thing, after so many of the original teachers died during the second war and the Battle of Hogwarts…" Wood said in a thick Scottish accent, trailing off momentarily. Then he brightened, his friendly brown eyes twinkling. "Call me Oliver. I teach the little devils how to plant weeds."

"And everybody calls me Tonks," the pink haired girl said with a smile, winking at Devía and Alec before closing her eyes. _POP_! Crimson hair.

"You're a Metamorphmagus!" Devía exclaimed. "That's really rare."

Tonks grinned at her. "And it's especially helpful for a Transfiguration professor. Very good, too, I wondered how fast you'd figure it out; takes some people days. Tonks," she added to Alec. "And you are…"

"Professor Alec Smart." Alec had smoothly switched into the alarmingly charming dreamboy machine. "_Fantastic_ to meet you, and I must say, both shades do _wonders_ for your complexion, next time you do the little pop might you try to swirl a bit of both together?"

Devía rolled her eyes at Sev. He shook his head, a tart expression on his face, and crossed his arms, impatiently, slowly, tapping his foot on the ground.

**TAP**….. **TAP**…. **TAP**.....

"Do you like Ol, Oliver, Ollie or Bob?" Alec was asking Oliver, still pumping his hand.

Oliver studied Alec uncertainly before deciding he was safe and letting a small smile twist at his lips. "_Bob_."

"Everybody likes Bob!"

"Mr. Smart, Oliver, let us at least _attempt_ to commence the meeting before classes resume Monday," Sev interrupted. It was a command, not a request, and he steered them pointedly toward his aged couches.

"Hang on!" Alec retorted shortly as he plopped down on a couch beside Devía.

**Oh my God, are you **stupid**? Do you _want_ to die?** "Did I mention Alec is endowed with the gift of gab?" Devía asked Sev.

Sev smirked. "You didn't have to mention it; I'm certain anyone with half a brain could come to that conclusion within moments of him opening his mouth."

"Now you've got me confused," Alec continued, still in deep conversation with Oliver. "So Bob is just a nickname?"

Oliver seemed about ready to crack up. He shook his head and said very slowly, as if addressing a first year, "No, my name is _just_ _Oliver_."

Alec scratched his head absently. "Well, then, who's Bob?"

Tonks snorted and then quickly covered her mouth, staring away at the ceiling, and Sev tapped Devía on the shoulder, muttering in a low voice, "_Where_ did you dig up this _imbecile_?"

Devía grimaced. "Unfortunately, he and I have a bit of an extensive history."

Alec had paused for a breath, and Sev seized the opportunity to stare coldly around the room. "I seem to recall asking for _silence_!"

Even Alec's mouth snapped closed. **Wow, he needs to teach me that trick.**

The next five minutes of conversation, however, left any opinion Devía had ever held about Hogwarts professors—being a professor in general—incinerating in one of Sev's cauldrons.

**Sev:** We've talked it over. We want you, and now Professor Smart as well, to join Paul.

**Devía (blankly after frantically wracking her brain for any encounter she had ever had with the name in her four years at Hogwarts) :** Paul? Can't say I've ever heard of him.

**Alec:** Well, as they say, love, if you can't beat him, join him.

**Tonks**: No, P.A.U.L. Professors Against Umbridge League.

**Sev**: Yes, we formed it back when that insufferable woman took up her post fifth year.

**Oliver**: In a nutshell, it's a pact to screw Umbridge and her supporters every chance we get without getting ourselves fired.

**Alec (delighted chuckle) :** I say, jolly good! How do a couple of blighters like us get in on the fun?

**Tonks**: Umbridge officially opened the dungeons for business two years ago. Filch has a right sick time down there with detentions and the like, so we haven't issued a single detention in two years. Not one.

**Sev**: In other words, the moment any impudent child rashly decides to throw a dung bomb by Umbridge's seat, we happen to become a bit more needful of glasses.

**Oliver**: I find it rather amazing, actually, Snape doesn't even give detention to Potter and the Weasleys. Sometimes I think the desire drives him mad….

**Devía**: Abstinence is good for the soul, Sev.

**Sev:** ALL RIGHT, we've had more than enough discussion than the situation calls for. Are the two of you in, or aren't you?

**Tonks**: Because if you're not, we might be forced to wipe your memory, and that's a sticky job.

**Alec**: Not do it, do you think we're mad?

**Devía**: And miss our chance to terrorize the terrorists? Of course, we're with you.

**Sev**: Good, let's seal it, then…..

Later.....

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Devía grumbled as she and Alec strolled into the huge kitchens of Hogwarts. She was nearly mobbed by at least one hundred house elves.

One ugly creature shoved his way to the front. "What food does the Lady Delaveger need?"

Devía squinted at him in recognition. "_Dobby_?"

Dobby's huge eyes got wider, if that was even possible, and he exclaimed in awe, "The great heir of the Delavegers _knows_ Dobby's _name_!!"

"Why does this sound familiar?" Devía muttered.

"_Ooooooo_," chorused the surrounding house elves.

Now Dobby turned to Devía eagerly. "What can Dobby get the Lady Delaveger?"

Devía crossed her arms and glared at Alec. "_You_ of all people should know how I feel about this, you heard me scream about it enough in the dorm. You can do the dirty work."

Alec rolled his eyes and bent down to Dobby. "Hello there. I'm Alec. Ignore the mean lady"—"Hey!" Devía exclaimed indignantly, nudging him with her foot. "You leave me out of this."—"and grab us two butterbeers, if you would." He scratched the tip of his nose thoughtfully. "And a few of those powdered pastries you had out at dinner last night if you could scrounge up some, those were pretty good—"

"THANK you, Dobby!" Devía said pointedly, dragging Alec up and away to a small table beside the gaping fireplace. "You are worse than Fred and George, and they exploited the house elves _mercilessly_." She paused. "In fact, I think it's safe to say that you're worse than the whole lot of them."

"I'll be sure to remember that on your birthday, love."

Devía laid her head on the table, covering it with her hands. "I mean, look at me, _look_ what you've done to me! I'm corrupted! Sabotaging other teachers, voluntarily showing _you_ the kitchens after all the S.P.E.W. campaigning I did before I left here, _honestly_! I was _such_ a goody-goody my first fourteen years, you wouldn't believe it!"

Alec chuckled as Dobby scurried up with their order. "Thanks, mate. Yeah, I believe it, because you were. Don't think it didn't kill me every time you looked in the mirror."

Devía laughed shortly, reluctantly uncapping the butterbeer. "Gee, thanks, Alec _darling_."

He shrugged innocently. "Well, I don't suppose it's entirely your fault. I mean, going under the name Hermione Granger, how could you _not_ be a bookworm—"

CRASH!

Alec leapt out of his chair, sending it flying on its side as he brandished his wand toward the fireplace; Devía had spun in her chair and was coolly aiming toward the portrait hole.

"It was from right in here," Alec muttered, jabbing toward the hearth.

A/N: Wow, my first kind-of cliffhanger! As always, reviews are loved! Oooo, who do you think overheard their convo?

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	15. The Last Dinner

A/N These next few interludes focus on what's behind Devía's "dark" memories, and why she decided to come back to Hogwarts. This one's a tad bit short, but the next interlude will make up for it.

Also, out of curiosity, I was wondering— Are most of the people who read and write fanfiction girls, or are there a lot of guys, too? If you're a guy and you're reading this, let me know!

Well I saw fireworks from the freeway  
& behind closed eyes I can't make them go away  
Cause you were born on the fourth of July,  
Freedom rings,  
Well something on the surface it stinks,  
I said something on the surface  
Well it kind of makes me nervous,  
To say that you deserve this sin,  
What kind of god would serve this  
We were cured this, dirty old disease  
Well if you you've gots the poison, I've gots the remedy  
The remedy is the experience, this is a dangerous liaison  
I says the comedy is that it's serious,  
This is a strange enough new play on words  
I said the tragedy on how you're going to spend the rest of your nights with the light on,  
So shine the light on all of your friends,  
Well it all amounts to nothing  
In the end

I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, no  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, no

Well I heard two men talking on the radio  
In a crossfire kind of new reality show,  
Uncovering the ways to plan the next big attack  
Well they were counting down the ways to stab the brother in to  
Be right back after this  
The unavoidable kiss, with a minty fresh death-breath  
That's sure to outlast this catastrophe  
Dance with me  
Cause if you gots the poison, I've gots the remedy  
The remedy is the experience, this is a dangerous liaison  
I says the comedy is that it's serious,  
This is a strange enough new play on words  
I said the tragedy on how you're going to spend the rest of your nights with the light on,  
So shine the light on all of your friends,  
Well it all amounts to nothing  
In the end

I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, no  
I, I won't worry my life away  
Hey, no

When I fall in love,  
I'll take my time, there's no need to hurry, love  
When I'm making up my mind.  
You can turn off the sun, but I'm still going to shine  
And then I'll tell you why.

Because the remedy is the experience, this is a dangerous liaison  
I says the comedy is that it's serious,  
This is a strange enough new play on words  
I said the tragedy on how you're going to spend the rest of your nights with the light on,  
So shine the light on all of your friends,  
Well it all amounts to nothing  
In the end

See, I won't worry my life away,  
Hey, no  
I, I wont worry my life away  
Hey, no  
Cause I won't, and I won't, and I Won't  
Worry my life away

-Jason Mraz, _The Remedy_

"_I'll have the Big Mac third combo, a large fry, a side of poppers, two apple pies, and one of those chocolate milk shakes, what do you call them here, frosties? Oh, and a garden shaker salad, can't forget the veggies." _

"What was that you said about not screwing up your new killer body when we got back to civilization?" Ian asked Katie as she carried her loaded tray to a table.

"_The hell with the body," Katie growled. "Bring on the food."_

"_Guys, we have a serious situation over here!" Ian called to Derek, Warren, and Shawn, pointing down at Katie. "She's turned into a man."_

"_Shut up!" Katie hit him as Lucy slid into the seat beside her. "Can you believe it? We're _finally_ back in the U.S."_

"_Sure took them long enough," Liz muttered._

"_And not just any part of the U.S.," Devía added._

_  
"New York City, baby!" Katie and Lucy cackled together. "How sweet is that?"_

"_I still can't believe the travel agency offered us a worry-free vay-cay," said Warren, rubbing his hands together and plunging ravenously into his Big Mac as if he had never seen food before._

"_It's not like they really had a choice," Devía pointed out. "It was that or a lawsuit. They owed us big."_

"_Haha!" Warren grinned and eyed Derek and Devía. "Not like this is the perfect excuse for you two to pop out the… you know…" He trailed off, winking knowingly at Derek before looking away and whistling innocently. _

Devía glanced at her boyfriend suspiciously. "What's all that about?"

"_Oh…." Derek quickly shot Warren a dirty look before he waved his hand dismissively and shot her an irresistible grin. "Chastity belts and whatnot." _

_Warren snorted discreetly, but Lucy let out a hoot. "Right, that's a good one." She pushed her tray away, having scarfed down her food. "I'm done; let's go."_

"_Oh, so you expect _us_ to jump whenever _you_ say so?" Shawn asked, crossing his arms and putting on his football face._

_  
"You got a problem with that?" Lucy, unperturbed, shot back._

"_Well, frankly, my dear, I don't give a da—"_

"_Okay, guys, where do we wanna go now?" Liz interrupted, steering the subject away to bigger and better things._

"_Macy's!" Katie exclaimed gleefully._

"Noooo_!" Derek, Warren, Ian, and Shawn immediately yelped._

"_How about a helicopter tour of the entire city?" Warren suggested._

"_Are you crazy? Do you know how much that would _cost_?" Liz shook her head. "Do we look like we're made of money to you? When was the last time you had a _real_ job?"_

"_Well, gee, Lizard, let me think…. Considering we've been stuck on a desert island half the time I've been the age that companies would actually _hire_ me, I'd say NEVER! Anyway, I just wanted to get a bird's eye view of the city," Warren whined._

"_Then there's always the World Trade Center," said Derek as he plopped back into his seat beside Devía after throwing his trash out._

"_But I don't want to trade anything," said Lucy._

"_You don't have to. They have elevators that go straight to the top. I've gone there a thousand times with my dad and the view's to die for and it doesn't cost a thing."_

"_They're the tallest buildings in the world, you know," Lucy pointed out, trying to redeem herself by sounding scholastic. Then she scratched her head. "Or somethin' like that."_

"_Should we go tomorrow?" asked Katie._

_Derek ruffled his sun streaked blond hair, thinking. "My dad took me once, right at lunchtime, and it was packed. Like, it took the elevators forever to get to the top. But it wasn't so bad in the morning, I don't think."_

"_Okay, we'll go tomorrow. It'll be open, right?" _

"Of course it'll be open, brainwave," said Katie, whacking Warren upside the head. "Unlike some_ people we know, people actually go to work there, and it'll be, like, a Tuesday or a Wednesday or something like that…"_

"_Tuesday," Devía murmured absently._

"_I wanna go see the Statue of Liberty," Liz pouted, sticking out her lip like a five-year-old and crossing her arms sullenly. "And I _hate_ heights. What a _boring_ day."_

"_Well, darling, majority rules this time," said Devía with a sympathetic grin at her best friend. "And we won't be there longer than an hour anyway. It'll be fun. I mean, bugger, what do you want, the world to explode tomorrow?"_

A/N: As always, please review! Comments and critiques are welcome, though optimism is good :-)

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	16. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

A/N: This chapter really is the one that starts off some Harry/Hermione. Reviewers: rain-witch, Tamar-Shaki, acrobat216, Norie Apel, I'm so glad you like the story! Amdorn, thanks a TON for the advice, I think it really helped me be more informed about my writing! Next chapters may come a bit more slowly, but don't worry, they will come :-)

I walk a lonely road  
The only one that I have ever known  
Don't know where it goes  
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
Where the city sleeps  
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone

I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line  
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines  
What's fcked up and everything's alright  
Check my vital signs  
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone

I walk alone  
I walk a...

I walk this empty street  
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
Where the city sleeps  
And I'm the only one and I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating  
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me  
'Til then I walk alone...

-Green Day, _Boulevard of Broken Dreams_

**Last time: **He shrugged innocently. "Well, I don't suppose it's entirely your fault. I mean, going under the name Hermione Granger, how could you _not_ be a bookworm—"

CRASH!

Alec leapt out of his chair, sending it flying on its side as he brandished his wand toward the fireplace; Devía had spun in her chair and was coolly aiming toward the portrait hole.

"It was from right in here," Alec muttered, jabbing toward the hearth.

**Chapter 9**

**Oh, for the love of—** "Yeah, another one over here by the door—_Don't_ move, Mr. Malfoy, and I'd recommend taking the invisibility cloak off now."

"Come on out, Red, you can pick it up later. Come on now."

Almost as simultaneously as their disruptions had been, Ginny emerged, white-faced, from inside the amply-large fireplace, specks of soot dotting her face like freckles, and Draco guiltily stepped over his fallen invisibility cloak but didn't attempted to approached the two professors.

"Hermione?" Ginny whispered hesitantly. Devía's stomach twisted; it was blatantly obvious that Ginny had heard _all_ of the previous conversation. Of course, why the french-twisted redhead had opted to hang out in the fireplace was beyond Devía… "Is it… is it really you?"

Devía looked over her shoulder at Alec. He merely shrugged, tipping his fallen chair back up and plopping down in it. He held up his hands, a clear 'Good luck with this one' written across his face. **Thanks for the support, o loyal friend**. Devia sighed, flipping her wand around and pointing it at herself. "_Glamorus_."

"Huh?—_Oh!_ SWEET MERLIN!!!" Ginny let out a muffled shriek and clutched the small table for support, covering her mouth with her hand in shock as Devía's eyes and hair darkened, her locks frizzed, her makeup faded, and her cheek bones dropped slightly. "_Hermione_?" There was a momentary beat when a pindrop could be heard. "_Hermione_! It _is_ you!" Unexpectedly, Ginny let out a little squeal and threw herself on Devía, jumping up and down excitedly.

"You handled that well," Devía laughed in relief and tapped her wand again, the spell faded away, leaving a tousled, apple cinnamon haired girl before the glowing Ginny.

Alec scraped two other chairs up to the table and tilted his head back toward Draco, still hovering by the door sporting a deer-in-the-headlights expression that worked well with his pale face. "Ahoy there!" Alec beckoned the blond over with a broad wave of his hand. "You two might as well join the party. Two more butterbeers!" he barked to a house elf in passing.

"_Alec_!" Devía was momentarily distracted from the extremely pressing matter at hand, and she pounded on the table twice to get his attention. "Stop it, _prat_, how would you like it if someone ordered you around like a slave your entire life?"

"Merlin, Granger, it _is_ you," Draco drawled slowly, collapsing heavily in his chair and leaning back on it, resting a finger thoughtfully on his lip. He stared at her, fascinated. "Huh."

**Annnnnnd another one bites the dust**.

"It is _so_ good to see you!" Ginny exclaimed, a huge smile spreading across her face as she snatched up a butterbeer from Dobby and expertly popped it open. "You have _no_ idea how worried… and you've changed! I mean, you're a—a Delaveger! How... _how_?"

Ginny's enthusiasm lightened the mood at the kitchen table, and Devía smiled happily. "I've actually told everyone how it happened, but nobody's been able to put two and two together. When I turned fourteen, changes happened, changes I couldn't stop, and now I'm me."

Ginny had not stopped beaming, nor had her mouth stopped running. "Hermione! I have _so_ much to tell you, I can_not_ believe it's you, you're back, you're so _different_! Well, I mean, not _really_ different, just more, I don't know, Herm… Er…. Devía! What do I call you now?"

"Devía…Hermione….It's all the same!" Devía and Ginny laughed. "God, it feels good to really talk to you again. I've been going crazy with just him," she jabbed a finger across the table at Alec, and Ginny smiled as Alec gave Devía a hurt face with sad, puppy-dog chocolate eyes that rivaled even Derek. "Really, though—" The smile vanished from Devía's face, and she reached out and pulled the distracting butterbeer bottle away from Ginny's nose. "You _can't_ tell anyone about this. _Neither_ of you. I would Obliviate you, but I don't think that's being fair to either of you, and besides, I like knowing you again, so… Listen. The Dark Lord might be gone, but the world is not a happy place. People can't know this."

Ginny shot a hesitant frown at Draco and bit her lip. "But… Ron? _Harry_?"

_Devia_ sighed, running a hand through her long hair, not wanted to dive into what would be a guaranteed deep conversation any more than Alec wanted to listen to it. "Not them more than _anyone_ else. Don't you see, Ginny? They're too important, Harry _especially_. If anyone finds out that I, the Delaveger heiress and God knows what else, ever had any kind of connection other than a professional one to _the_ Harry Potter, do you realize what kind of hell could break loose?"

"I do agree with that," Draco interjected somberly, entering the conversation for the first time since he had sat down. "Fudge never put any of the Dark Lord's biggest supporters in Azkaban after the war ended. Goyle Sr., Zambini, Bellatrix Black… they're all still out there, and they would take drastic steps if they discovered that kind of information."

Devía stared at him in disbelief. "_What_?"

"It's a joke. Umbridge running this place, Fudge running the country. The world's being sent to hell in a handbasket and nobody's doing a thing about it." Draco smiled wryly, slowly becoming more comfortable around the two professors; one of whom, he had just discovered, he had formerly insulted ruthlessly. "Of course, you're probably the best thing that happened to Hogwarts since Wood and Tonks showed up. You're going to be more willing to support the students' rights than support the administration. You're just as inside as they are, maybe more so after all the sneaking about you did in the Golden Trio days, but _you_ have the name. You can step over the line and not get burned."

"Oh, stop, I'm embarrassed."

Ginny pointedly cleared her throat and then began, "Look, I know that the talk about the state of the union jack is all good and well, but can we save the political discussion for another day?.... Don't you _miss_ them?"

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who '_they'_ were. Devía picked over her words carefully. "I suppose—I, I mean, I'm sure I do. But that was all so long ago. Life has happened to me since fourth year, you know? It was another life, and it was great. The same thing's happened here. The Ron and Harry now aren't the same Ron and Harry I knew in fourth year, just like I'm definitely not the Hermione they knew in fourth year."

"Amen to that," Alec muttered, yawning and tilting his head back, counting the number of tiles in the ceiling, bored.

"Do you understand where I'm coming from?" Devía asked Ginny.

Ginny nodded reluctantly. "I suppose. I mean, I want them to be safe just as much as anyone else, and we're all different, but Hermione… Devía…" she trailed off. "Ron sure missed you, when you left, I know that. And Harry snapped. He did. Not mentally, mind you, but…" she smiled sadly. "He just wasn't the same again. Fifth year. After…after you left." The thought that Ginny had filed away in her mind for five years. "People don't even bring you _up_ around him. You should see what happens when they do, it's scary."

"We did go through a lot together." **Whether he saw me or not. **Devía tried to balance her empty butterbeer bottle upside down on its rim. "Things really change, don't they?" She suddenly grinned. "Listen to us, we sound like a bunch of old fogeys at a fifty year reunion."

"You know, Gin, he had a lot on his plate fifth year, anyway. It could have been anything," Draco added. He shook his head, an appraising, still partly disbelieving expression on his face. "Hermione Granger. The muggleborn. It was brilliant, Father _never_ suspected, no one ever…" He smirked to himself. "Father's probably turned over in his grave. Hope he's got a cramp."

"And _you_!" Devía turned to him, spinning the bottle flat on the table until its head pointed in Draco's direction.

"I'd watch out," Alec warned Draco, coming back to earth. "Every single time she says that, she either screams or breaks something."

Devía winked cheekily at Alec. "Only for you, sweetie! Anyway—" back to Draco as Alec turned his attention to pulling faces at passing house elves "—y'all say _I've_ changed… What about _you_?"

"Oh, that." Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair, flicking some of his longer whisps of hair out of his eyes. "Switched sides, did a Snape… you know the drill."

**_That_ was so detailed it just might have made the cliff-notes category**. "Well, I suspect—or I hope, at least—that there's a _tad_ bit more to it than that, but I won't pursue the matter. Good to see you again, even if the very last word you ever said to me was _mudblood_."

"_Ooooo_." Alec sucked in a breath, grinning evilly as another house elf squeaked in fear and took off across the kitchens. He tut-tutted at Draco. "Nasty word, that is."

Draco involuntarily winced and raised his eyebrows at Devía. "I didn't say that."

"You did."

"No, I didn't."

"Oh yes, you definitely did."

"Did I?"

"Uh-huh."

"I _did_?"

"Well, you _did_ just say you didn't."

"Yeah, I did."

"No, you didn't!"

"I'm confused." Draco frowned thoughtfully. "Did I or didn't I?"

"Guys?" Ginny asked.

"Huh?" asked Draco.

"Shut it!"

A smile, a genuine smile appeared on Draco's face, a smile that would have been so alien on the face of the Malfoy Devía had known years ago. "Perhaps… perhaps you and I could have a bit of a truce on that one. A truce that we'll know for sure that we said."

"_Well_…." Devía stared down her nose at him, idly studying her long, even nails. "I _suppose_ I could suffer through an arrangement of that sort…" An impish grin slowing spread across her face, her amethyst eyes sparkling like twin purple diamonds. "What part of 'It's good to see you' did you not understand, ferret boy?"

Draco's mouth actually fell open, and Ginny cracked up, "_Merlin_, I'd _completely_ forgotten about that…"

"For good reason," Draco retorted before glancing at Devía. "You mean, that's it? Just like that, it's over, no hard feelings?" When Devia nodded, he muttered, his blue-gray eyes shocked, "Who _are_ you?"

Devía laughed. "I'm someone who learned that life is way too short to hold petty grudges from years ago."

"Eat your words, love."

"Alec, you're a special case. And, anyway…" Seeing Draco….knowing Ginny again, knowing a friend from a time long ago….even Alec, bless him, all here, right now… **Hey**. "You two still haven't answered my original question."

"What was that?" Ginny yawned and stretched out in her chair, her some red hair spilling out of her French twist and contrasting sharply with her dark robe.

"Why you're both in the kitchens at one in the morning."

"Oh, shit." Draco slammed his bottle of butterbeer on the table, a self-controlled gleam of calmness in his eye not nearly fooling Devía.

Devía, Alec, and Ginny looked at Draco simultaneously. "Oh shit what?"

Draco sighed loudly, his eyes darting indecisively around a knot in the table before he raised his head and looked at Devía. "Oh shit, you'd better come with me."

Devia glanced questioning at Ginny, as all four quickly rose from the table but she shrugged. "Hey, I was just innocently hanging out in the fireplace."

"And I was just making out with my co-professor," Devia retorted, speeding up her steps to a jog as Draco swooped down, scooped up his invisibility cloak, and rapidly exited the portrait old. He confidently made a sharp left, Ginny close on his heels, seeming to have a pretty good idea of where Draco was headed despite her previous denials. Devia grabbed Alec's forearm for insurance and took several flights of stairs two at a time, muttering, "Maybe New York had a few advantages…"

"Bloody…hell…" Alec rasped, panting along after Devia, "I am _so_ out of shape…"

"Yeah, being a mirror all your life can do that to you," Devia noted wryly. "Whoa!" She skidded to a stop to avoid ramming into Ginny. Draco turned and hastily put a finger to his lips. Devia furrowed her brow and tried to figure out where exactly…The Astronomy Tower, there was the sign above the door.

Devia threw a confused frown at Alec, as Ginny chirped quickly, "Wait, let me go in first." **Well, they definitely didn't bring us up here to snog, so why…**

Ginny cautiously began to open the large wooden entry but leapt back as the shattering sound of glass connecting with door rang out against the still night silence.

Alec grasped his chest and staggered backward a few steps, nearly tripping down the stairs and swaying drunkenly before collapsing on Devia shoulder. "I'm hit!"

"Darling, what _talent_, I should have dropped you off in the middle of one of those Civil War reenactment battles back in the States. Get _off_ me—" Devia pushed to the front of the group, her hand warily on her wand. She turned to Draco and Ginny, having completely switched to professor mode. "You two had better tell me what I'm going to see when I open this door."

Draco glanced pointedly at Ginny and grumbled something that sounded remotely like, "_Your_ idiot friend."

Ginny's flaming hair had long sense fallen from its French twist, and now she twisted a lock of it frustratedly around her fingers. Finally, she muttered, "Hermi—Dev—oh, what the hell. Harry's in there, people from the Upper House found him up here _loads_ of times last year, and this year looks like it's going to be the same. He's…" Ginny lowered her voice, "He's _beyond_ drunk."

Devia sighed and ran a hand slowly through her tousled apple cinnamon hair, trying to absorb this new information. **My old best friend is an alcoholic.** "All right," Devia said slowly, placing a hand on the doorknob. She nodded her head again, as if in concurrence. "All right. If I'm not back in ten minutes, you can safely assume I've been thrown out of the Tower and can send down a stretcher for me."

"Hermione," Ginny reached out and pulled on her friend's sleeve. "Listen, when he gets drunk, he doesn't get stupid." She paused and licked her lips. "He gets mad. I've seen him like this once. You'll have to knock him out to get him to come with you."

"The bloke's bleedin' lucky another professor hasn't found him up here yet," Draco muttered.

Devia glanced around at the four faces watching her. "Okay, I still don't have the slightest inkling on the background of this, so here's an idea: Let's all crash the party." With that, she pushed open the door. "Accio bottle!" she shouted as more glass flew at them, and she snatched the half-filled firewhiskey container out of the air. "Care to tell me what you're doing up here, Mr. Potter?"

Harry was sprawled out the floor of the far corner of the astronomy tower, his back against the wall, another bottle hanging from a limp hand that rested on top of his knee. His mop of messy dark hair hung in his eyes, rustling every now and again as the icy January wind blew through the Tower. He shot a dark look at Ginny and Draco before staring impassively at the stone floor. "You seem to one of the brighter sort, Professor, what does it look like I'm doing?"

Devia didn't miss the killer glare from his slightly bloodshot eyes. "It looks to me like you're doing something extremely stupid." She crossed her arms, pulling her cloak tighter around her. "And you're going to come back to the dorms right now."

He raised cynical green eyes as well as his wand to her face. "Make me."

**Ooo, you are **so** lucky it's me and not any other professor. **Devia heard Ginny gasp slightly, and even Draco was silent.** I'm the one who has to knock the reality back. Great. **"Are you going to finish off another one, Harry? Drown away your sorrows? Wallow in your misery?" Devia crossed her arms. "Think they'll all come back if you do that, hmmm? Think they'll just _rise_ up from the dead?" **Okay, so that one was low. **

"WHAT the BLOODY HELL do you know about that, Delaveger?!" Harry's emerald pools blazed furiously, and he slammed his bottle on the ground, smashing it with a crash that caused Ginny to jump and instinctively grab Draco's arm, her hand shaking from the frigid air. He smiled slightly, wrapping his cloak around her arm, and continued to watch what was guaranteed to be some sort of explosion unfurl before him.

"When , WHEN in your PERFECT FAIRY TALE LIFE did you EVER see all the people you love taken away from you? The ONE person who I thought WOULD understand left me YEARS ago, too! The newspapers write all kinds of LIES about me, the WORLD either loves me or HATES me, EVERYONE thinks they know me, EVERYONE thinks they know what's wrong, and THEY DON'T! Don't LECTURE me when YOU don't UNDERSTAND!"

Devia'a mouth dropped open, fire transferring from Harry's words to her amethyst eyes. "How _dare_ you!" she hissed in a voice so venomous, Harry actually lowered his wand a bit in surprise at her attack. "How _dare_ you assume you know _anything_ about my life!" She noticed Ginny suck in a quivering breath. "And how _dare_ you just _dismiss_ people you call your friends and their attempts to _help_ you through what they _know_ is difficult; all they do is care about you! Nearly three-quarters of this school died in that war, do you think you're the _only_ one in this world to experience _loss_? _Everyone_ fought for their _lives_ in that war, do you think you're _special_ just because your parents died earlier than everyone else's? Do you even _know_ how many other people had to fight the Dark Lord; do you think your life is more wretched than most because _you_ had to go up against him?"

Harry's face twitched angrily, but he remained silent as Devia continued her barrage, his wand slowly dropping limply to his side. "Do you think other people don't KNOW what it's like to lose everyone they love, do you think that you're the only one to know what hell feels like? Well, guess what, I can _guarantee_ you there's at _least_ one other person in this school that has felt what you do, but do you see anyone else walking around like some self-sacrificing martyr, like every day is a trial they have to suffer through? Anyone else in the room, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but _I_ sure as _hell_ don't!" Devia paused and let out a slow breath, her cheeks slightly red, and the steady howl of the artic wind was all that could be heard. "I understand more than you think." She sighed heavily and turned to Harry. "All right, you have a choice. You can stay up here and brood all night, maybe even freeze to death, or you can come back with us now. In any case, I'm giving you detention."

Ginny paled and put a hand to her mouth in horror. "He-Devia, you…_Filch_!"

Alec woke up. "Love, _Snape_ said—"

"Shut it, Alec, now is _not_ the time. Harry," she turned back to the dark haired 19-year-old, now slumped defeatedly against the Astronomy Tower wall, surrounded by empty fire-whisky bottles, "Monday night. 6:00. My Defense classroom. I expect you to be there, or I will not hesitate to hand you over to Filch."

"Umbridge won't let you," Draco piped in in a low voice as Ginny cautiously approached Harry and offered him his hand. He weakly accepted it and stood, swaying slightly. "She authorizes all detentions. They only go to Filch."

Devia's now-calm violet eyes temporarily lingered sadly on Harry before she turned with Alec and swept from the Tower. "Not anymore."

A/N: Love the reviews. Do you think Ginny and Draco should call Devia Hermione or Devia when they're not in public?

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	17. The Last Innocence

Do you remember me  
I sat upon your knee  
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies  
Well I'm all grown up now  
And still need help somehow  
I'm not a child but my heart still can dream  
So here's my lifelong wish  
My grown up Christmas list  
Not for myself but for a world in need

No more lives torn apart  
That wars would never start  
And time would heal all hearts  
And everyone would have a friend  
And right would always win  
And love would never end, no  
This is my grown up Christmas list

As children we believe  
The grandest sight to see  
Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree  
But Heaven only knows  
That packages and bows  
Can never heal a heartached human soul

No more lives torn apart  
That wars would never start  
And time would heal all hearts  
And everyone would have a friend  
And right would always win  
And love would never end, no  
This is my grown up Christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth  
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart  
That wars would never start  
And time would heal all hearts  
And everyone would have a friend  
And right would always win  
And love would never end, no  
This is my grown up Christmas list  
This is my only lifelong wish  
This is my grown up Christmas list

-Kelly Clarkson, _My Grown Up Christmas List_

**Last time: **"I wanna go see the Statue of Liberty," Liz pouted, sticking out her lip like a five-year-old and crossing her arms sullenly. "And I hate heights. What a boring day."

"Well, darling, majority rules this time," said Devía with a sympathetic grin at her best friend. "And we won't be there longer than an hour anyway. It'll be fun. I mean, bugger, what do you want, the world to explode tomorrow?"

"_Get up! Wakey-wakey! Rise and Shine!"_

"_Go '_way_!" Lucy moaned sleepily, shaking her fist drunkenly at Devía before rolling over in her bed and slamming the pillow over her head. _

_  
"I can see why they kicked you out of England," Liz muttered,_ _"if you did this every morning."_

"_Are you kidding?" Devía exclaimed indignantly, an oddly reminiscent expression crossing her face. "My friends loved me."_

_  
"Sure, darling," Liz said, grumpily shoving her legs into a pair of jeans. "I can't believe there was a _grasshopper_ in this room last night. I mean, come on, people, this is New York; they don't even have grass! And this is supposed to be a four-star hotel. Call those people at the travel agency up. I'm suing; they can't stop me now."_

I_ can believe it; that sort of thing would have to happen to us," Devía said disgustedly. "And then that stupid sink started running and we forget we left the light on in the bathroom. We were sitting on the bed playing Monopoly at three in the morning and we thought somebody was in there. Katie grabbed that empty water bottle like she could actually kill someone with it and we all stalked the bathroom together—GET your lazy bum up _NOW_!" she yelled into the pillow over Lucy's head. The pillow nodded grudgingly and Lucy dragged herself out from under the covers, tossing it back onto the bed. "Damn hotel pillows are never comfortable."_

_"But it was _you_ who wanted the ice at midnight," Katie objected, observing her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair. "We went down to the office in flower slippers and pajamas. The guy must've thought we were crazy."_

_"Well, we were." Liz laughed. "And we were so sure the bathroom was possessed we slept together in the bed by the door so we could keep an eye on it in case somebody decided to break in or burst out of the toilet, one of the two."_

_"I suppose that _was_ rather funny," Devía said slowly._

_"Funny? It was _hilarious_. Especially when you keep us up half the night with those ghost stories about some bloody baron or whatever you called him. I _loved_ that."_

"_What are we doing after the WTC?" Liz asked interestedly, flipping through her purse._

"_Em… Booked a tour for the Statue of Liberty at 9:30, that's why we have to get moving now if we want to go up the lift this morning." Devía yawned, throwing open the shades to reveal a clear, sunny morning. "We've got the perfect day to go sightseeing! Step it up, Luce!"_

"_Oh, alright, hold your horses," Lucy grumbled, throwing on a T-shirt._

_Someone banged on their hotel door. "You guys ready?" Warren yelled._

"_One minute," said Liz._

"_HUH?!" _

"_WILL YOU GUYS WAIT A SECOND?" Liz roared._

"_O-_KAYWomen_," Warren growled in exasperation through the door._

"_LOVE US OR HATE US, YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT US!" Devía shouted back to him._

"_She's right; she knows." Liz poked at the closed door with a finger, as if Warren was there instead of the wood. "She knows _everything_."_

"_WILL YOU KIDS SHUT UP?" a muffled voice echoed from farther down the hallway._

"_Whoops." Liz cringed as Devía and Katie cracked up, Lucy sighing and grabbing her purse. "Okay, guys, let's go." She pushed the door open--right into Shawn._

_"OOOOOWWWW!" Shawn howled, dancing exaggeratedly around the hallway, holding his foot. "What'd you do that for?"_

_"What were you standing against the door for?" Lucy asked agitatedly._

_"I was _leaning_," Shawn explained._

_"Don't lean anymore," Lucy told him._

"_Took ya long enough." Warren flashed them a grin, shoving his way between Lucy and Shawn. Liz linked her arm through his, saucily flipping her hair over her shoulder, retorting, "But I'm sure you'll agree it was well worth the wait."_

"_What's our MOT?" _

"_Our _what_?" Katie asked as all eight of them crowded into the elevator. _

"_Method of transportation," Derek explained, pressing _B

"_Uhhh….Never really thought about that," said Lucy, shifting back and forth in her high-heels._

_"The way I see it, we have two choices," Liz said. "We can either take the subway there or. . . ." she paused dramatically._

_"What?" Lucy asked in a voice that said she already was saying no to the other choice._

_"We can walk!" Liz said enthusiastically._

Walk_ there?" Lucy wailed. "That's, like, far!"_

_"Yeah!" All the guys chorused upon hearing Lucy object. "Let's walk."_

_"Let's not," said Devía, yawning again._

_"Let's walk and say we did," said Shawn._

_"Way to go, smart one," Liz laughed. "It's 'Let's _not_ and say we did.'"_

"_People!" Derek exclaimed as the elevator door opened with a _DING,_ and they walked out toward the front doors. "This is New York City! How do you think people in New York City get around?"_

"_The metro?" Devía guessed._

"_No, my lovely English rose, people on this side of the pond use _taxis_," Derek droned mischievously, correctly anticipated and dodging her whack. "We have them in Great Britain too!"_

"_You guys are impossible," Warren exclaimed, sweeping out the door. He stood at the very edge of the sidewalk, stuck out his hand, and yelled, "_Taxi_!" _

"_Like they can hear him," Katie muttered over the honking morning rush-hour traffic._

_Immediately, however, a yellow and black cab swerved out of the line of cars and screeched to a halt right in front of Warren. "Whoa," Ian crowed with a laugh. "How'd you _do_ that?"_

"_Trade secrets, O'Bryan," Warren retorted with his stereotypical _haha!_ "It's all in the wrist. And the eyes, yeah, you gotta make eye contact. See you guys at the South Tower." He jumped into the taxi with Liz and slammed the door, the car speeding off._

"_Well," Katie huffed, "If _he_ can do it…"_

"_Okay," Ian said. He waved his hand around. After a minute he pulled it down and glanced back at Katie, Devía, Derek, Lucy, and Shawn. "How come this isn't working?" _

"You're doin' it wrong, that's why," Katie told him, rolling her eyes.

_  
"But continue on; it's quite amusing to watch," Devía added, laughter in her amethyst eyes._

"_Oh, I am, am I?" Ian said haughtily, pointedly ignoring Devía. "I'd like to see _you_ do better."_

"_Watch me." Katie stepped up to the curb, tossed her long white-blond hair flirtily over her shoulder, waggling her fingers and blinking her eyelashes in the general direction of the oncoming traffic. Slowly, she began to slide off her knee-long grey sweater and pretended to unbutton the top buttons of her skin-tight shirt._

"What_ are you _do_—"Ian froze and his mouth dropped opening horror as two cabs, not even bothering to signal, slammed on the breaks and pulled over._

_Katie looked smugly over at an astounded Ian and hopped into the nearest cab, Lucy and Shawn also making the best of the 2-cab stop._

_Devía smirked as she heard Ian complain to Katie as he slammed the door, "How come _I_ never get that—"After having watched Warren carefully, Devía leapt to the end of the sidewalk, raised her hand, and called, "Taxi!"_

_A taxi skidded up next to the curb _

"Done like a true New Yorker," Derek said with a grin.

"_Shall we go?" Devía asked Derek mischievously._

"_If you dare." Devía laughed lightly and hopped into the last taxi after Derek, and they disappeared into the early-morning traffic._

**Soon after….**

_  
"You guys!" A yell from Warren. "Over here!"_

"_Whooooo-eeeee!" Lucy exclaimed, galloping across the observation deck on the roof of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. "I will _never_ take one of those babies again!"  
_

"_I dunno, Lucy, I kinda liked it," Shawn said._

_  
"Didja really?"_

"_Only the part where I would smush you up against the window whenever we almost crashed."_

"_Awwwww!" Lucy let out a crazy laugh and pushed him as Devía and Derek trotted up alongside Liz and Warren, leaning backwards against the guard rail._

_As soon as they approached, Liz spun around to face the city and threw out her arms. "Isn't it _amazing_?"_

"_Quite so, Liz, although—" Devía froze mid-sentence and cocked her head to the left. "What's that?"_

"_What's what?" Lucy countered, still laughing at Shawn. _

_  
"Don't you hear it?"_

_Warren pretended to listen carefully, and then nudged Liz with an elbow, exclaiming in a parental voice, "_Lizard_!", and she retorted peevishly, "Oh, _grow_ up. Did you guys see Katie and Ian on your way up here?"_

"_Nope, knowing Katie, they probably got lost."_

_Devía frowned, leaning up against the guardrail and looking west, scanning the streets far below. She fought back a dizzying wave at the huge distance between herself and the ground. "Seriously, guys, I really do hear something."_

"_That's strange," Derek, who had joined her, muttered. "There's this plane coming. It's kind of far off, but it's flying really low."_

"_Probably just _goin'_ to the airport," Shawn threw out dismissively, busy kissing Lucy, "as all planes tend to do."_

_Lucy pulled back and rolled her eyes over at him. "No, d'ja think?"_

"_I…. I don't know," Devía said nervously, mentally wincing at her words. She glanced at Derek. "Doesn't seem to be turning, does it?" _

"What? It gonna hit the building?" Warren laughed.

_But now all the people on the observation deck could hear a noise, at first a buzzing, but rapidly augmenting louder and louder, the plane growing from a speck on the horizon to a full-fledged shape._

"_What the hell is it doing?" Derek yelled, taking a few nervous steps away from the guardrail. "Why isn't it turning?"_

"_WHAT?!" Lucy screamed back over the deafening roar._

"_WARREN!" Liz screamed, frantically reaching out for her boyfriend as a supersonic roar filled the air with terror, with numerous tourists dashing toward the center of the building, confused, shouting; Devía grabbing Derek's hand and looking into his eyes; the world was ending, it was an atomic, maybe a nuclear bomb, yeah, she had read about those in a muggle book once, no wizard spell even came close to matching their power…._

'I love you_," Derek mouthed, enveloping her tightly in his arms. _

"_I love you, too—" Suddenly, the scream of the jet engines turned into a thunderous, ominous BOOOM, and the entire South Tower shook so violently that Derek and Devía were torn apart; Devía flew through the air and slammed into the cement all-too-close to the guardrail and the 1,110 foot drop to the city streets far below. Scrambling unsteadily to her feet, she jerked her head up just in time to see a huge fireball burst into the air to her left. As the flames retreated, a shocked silence filled the air, broken only by a chorus of car alarms sounding far off in the distance. That's what made it horrifying; the dead quiet._

_Devía's mouth dropped open. Even in the wizarding world, with Voldemort still on the loose and Death Eaters running amuck, _nothing_ like this had ever happened. She began to walk, almost in a trance, toward the north side of the roof, pushing past the people stampeding in the opposite direction. Her apple cinnamon hair blowing backward by an unnaturally warm blast of air and a huge puff of thick smoke, she reached the guardrail._

_  
"Devía!" came a familiar voice. It was Derek. "Come _on_!"_

_Devía ignored him and leaned over the edge of the rail. And any sense of rationalism that she had held in her mind shut off._

"_Let's go!" Derek ran up behind her and grabbed her arm, but Devía shook him off. "Look," she whispered. "Look at it."  
_

_Coughing from a whiff of smoke, Derek glanced over the edge of the observation deck. "Oh my _God_…" His eyes shot open, aghast, at the black clouds billowing from the gaping hole in the side of the North Tower. "Do you think…" he paused to catch his breath, "Do you think it was an… an accident?" _

Devía shrugged weakly. "I don't know." **I don't know anything anymore.** _She sagged against him, but stiffened as she heard a distant, distant sound that turned her blood cold._

"No_." Devía let go of the guardrail as if it were burning hot, stumbling away from it. "No, dear God, it wasn't an accident. Sweet Merlin, it can't be," she whispered._

"What_? What's wrong?!" Derek practically shook Devía. "Why wasn't it an accident?"_

"_Because there's another one coming."_

_Even after playing in a life-sized, wizard's chess game, being frozen by a basilisk, facing the most feared outlaw on the planet, running away from a werewolf, hearing her best friend tell her that the Dark Lord had returned, finding out she wasn't the person she had been living her life as, and living through a typhoon and shipwreck, Devía had never thought it was actually possibly to feel her own heart stop beating until that moment. Derek's eyes met hers, and there was a desperate urgency, a deadly certainty in the amethyst pools that Derek had never seen before. Without a word they both spun around and tore away at top speed toward Warren, Liz, Lucy, Shawn, and the elevator._

A/N: As always, please review!!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	18. Meant to Live

A/N: Reviewers, reviewers, I love you all! Nissy Padfoot, Norie Ape1, KayeRyoko, lilkrazieangelz, hazel, EngShin, and rani singla! Thank you! I love hearing from you! Thanks for everyone's opinions on the Hermione/Devía question. Decided that Ginny will call her Hermione because Ginny knew Hermione well during her earlier years at Hogwarts, and Draco will call her Devía because ever since he was little he always associated the amethyst eyes/ "Delaveger look" with the Delaveger family, not Devía, and he didn't really know Hermione well enough to resort to her old name. Rain-witch, as always, thank you for reviewing, and Tamar-shaki: I agree, I cried as well, but if you think that was a tragic chapter wait until the next one. Harry doesn't know that Devia is Hermione, and his not knowing is central to their relationship, so he won't find out for a while. We'll see a little bit more of what happened to both of them in the next few chapters. Moving on to the story!

Fumbling his confidence

And wondering why the world has passed him by

Hoping that he's bent for more than arguments

And failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Dreaming about Providence

And whether mice or men have second tries

Maybe we've been livin with our eyes half open

Maybe we're bent and broken, broken

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

Somewhere we live inside

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

Somewhere we live inside

We want more than this world's got to offer

We want more than this world's got to offer

We want more than the wars of our fathers

And everything inside screams for second life yeah

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

We were meant to live for so much more

Have we lost ourselves?

We were meant to live

We were meant to live

-Switchfoot, _Meant to Live_

**Last time:** "Shut it, Alec, now is _not_ the time. Harry," she turned back to the dark haired 19-year-old, now slumped defeatedly against the Astronomy Tower wall, surrounded by empty fire-whisky bottles, "Monday night. 6:00. My Defense classroom. I expect you to be there, or I will not hesitate to hand you over to Filch."

"Umbridge won't let you," Draco piped in in a low voice as Ginny cautiously approached Harry and offered him his hand. He weakly accepted it and stood, swaying slightly. "She authorizes all detentions. They only go to Filch."

Devía's now-calm violet eyes temporarily lingered sadly on Harry before she turned with Alec and swept from the Tower. "Not anymore."

**Chapter 10 **

"Just do me a favor and stay out of my way while I teach, _darling_."

"How in the world did you manage to snare a unicorn?" Alec asked in shock, ignoring Devía's previous comment as she followed him down the muddy but sun soaked path toward the edge of the forbidden forest.

Devía dodged a puddle the size of a small lake, landing in a mountain of mud about the same size. **Ew, damn. Well, at least it isn't freezing cold the day I decide to hold class outside. Just riddled with sinkholes.** "The same way you showed up. She just appeared."

Alec turned his shaggy brown head to Devía as he continued to amble down the trail, clucking in a motherly way. "Love, love, we haven't been chucking mirrors at the Whomping Willow, have we?"

"No, _we_ have not, _darling_, and at least _she_ didn't fall on my head."

Alec chuckled. "Yeah, that one would have hurt a tad bit more, I think." He paused at the bottom of the hill, waiting for her to reach its bottom and come up alongside him. The countryside was now a dead green color after the midwinter heat wave had sent the melted snow rushing in torrents down its side. "Can't say I've heard much out of you since Friday night."

Devía shrugged, falling into step with Alec and strolling toward the small hut in the near distance. "Can't get anything past you, I see."

"Want to talk about it?"

"There isn't really much to say." Devía frowned, her amethyst eyes deeply thoughtful. "You know, I think Friday night really opened my eyes to how _different_ everything really is. It was like I was telling Ginny earlier. I mean, look at Harry, what is that? Since when does he drink like a fiend and throw those intense anger spasms? Since when is Ginny so _completely_ outgoing and Ron so _infatuated_ with Luna and Draco not only civil but relatively interesting and Cho positively _drooling_ over Harry"—She involuntarily shuddered—"I can't even deal with _that_ right now. And _Snape_! Mounting an underground resistance against half the teachers at Hogwarts? _Laughing_? Acting like I'm his adopted daughter?" Devía's voice was steadily rising. "What the bloody hell kind of _twisted_ world is this?"

"You know, that one with the pink hair—what was her name, Tonks?— was pretty hot…" Alec mused to himself.

"Alec, dear, do try to restrain yourself from seducing every girl over age sixteen in this school." Devía curled a lip back in disgust as she realized what she just said. **Ew!** "Why don't I rephrase that, try to avoid seducing every woman over age twenty-five. Got it?"

"_Course_ I got it," Alec countered with a foxy grin, flicking his hair back from his eyes to recreate the windswept look. Devía coughed loudly, grinning, and rolled her eyes, slowing as she came around the side of Hagrid's old hut. It was now part of Filch's spoils, along with the Care of Magical Creatures teaching position. "And who does that leave me, love, hmmm? That old fart, Umbridge? How do you suggest I go about _that_ one night stand, court her with green frog slippers and extra-large pink lingerie?"

"Oh, dear Lord, Alec, that is a truly _sick_ image. _So_ sickening, ugh…" Devía trailed off, her eyes brightening as she felt an aura of purity and goodness approach her. "Now shut up, fool, and stay away; you have no experience in dealing with unicorns." Devía smiled as she studied the shimmering white fantasy emerging from the wood, her pristine white coat sharply contrasting with the muddy woods around her, and said softly, "Hey, beautiful."

"_Hey-yay, beautiful,_" Alec mimicked in a high voice, scowling good naturedly after her. "She knows some animal for five minutes and it's 'Hey, beautiful'; she knows me her entire life and all I get is 'Shut up, fool.' "

Devía leisurely held out her hand, and the unicorn padded gracefully forward, coming up to Devía as if greeting an old friend, nudging Devía's arm amicably and blowing soft silver glitter into and around Devía's hair like a burst of snowflakes reflecting off the sunlight. "Hey!"

"_Professor_?"

Devía cocked her head to the left at Luna's shocked voice, her hand still resting on the unicorn's neck. She wasn't surprised to see all eight remaining members of the class gathered a few yards away staring at her and the unicorn in awe, nor was she surprised to see Harry hanging around the back of the group in an attempt to avoid all eye contact. She smiled brightly in greeting. "Ms. Lovegood, class. Come on over guys, stay awhile. She doesn't bite."

"Not hard, anyway," Alec added with a laugh as Devía glared at him and turned back to the unicorn, breathing lightly into its ear.

Perhaps it was Ginny's imagination, but the unicorn seemed to actually nod as Devía pulled away and turn its swirling, clear blue pools of color toward the class in interest.

"I must be losing my mind," Terry muttered. "I'd swear she just talked to that thing."

"It's a she, Mr. Boot."

Terry's mouth snapped, astonished she had managed to catch his comment. Devía smiled impishly at him, and he asked, "Pardon?"

"She, her name, in our language, is Iowyn. She would like to call her Iowyn. All right, so you've all had Care of Magical Creatures before, and I'm not here to teach you the anatomy of at unicorn. Can anyone tell me why I might have a unicorn drop by a Defense Against the Dark Arts class?"

Terry, Ron, Hannah and Ginny glanced expectantly at Luna, and she didn't disappoint. Within milliseconds, the dirty blonde's hand shot up. Devía smiled knowingly at the post-Hermione Granger. "Ms. Lovegood, enlighten us."

"Unicorns posses their own form of magic. If harnessed, this magic can theoretically be utilized in spontaneous, wandless magic, such as invisibility," Luna intoned as if reading directly from the textbook. "However, since very few have been able to even touch creatures as pure as unicorns, much less communicate their ideas with the unicorns in such as way as to co-create magic, this is still very theoretical."

"Very thorough, Ms. Lovegood, five points to Ravenclaw." Luna seemed pleased with herself as Ron found his girlfriend's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Unicorns are the most innocent of animals, and they demand the highest level of respect and a considerable amount of goodwill. Needless to say, not many understand or have patience for the ways of the unicorn, and many would like nothing more than to take advantage of the powers unicorns have. Thus, the unicorn generally avoids the evil of mankind." Devía's eyes now sparkled with some great secret, and a sly grin slowly spread across her face. "Iowyn, however, has agreed to aid me in a little demonstration today."

"Agreed?" Ron asked weakly.

"She talks to the animals and they talk back," Alec explained mischievously in a hushed voice.

"Excuse me, H-Professor," Ginny interrupted, her eyes widening in astonishment. "You… you can talk? To _unicorns_? Since when, isn't that impossible?"

Devía laughed and raised her eyebrows pointedly. "Since the change, and it's not impossible, Ginny, just very rare. Nothing is impossible, actually." Devía added with a grin. **Take my life, for example.** "As Ms. Lovegood was saying…theoretically, which kind of magic would one most expect from a unicorn?"

"Invisibility," Draco said, nodding knowingly.

"Yeah, definitely," Hannah agreed, eyes shining in excitement, leaning forward eagerly. "Professor, you aren't going to _show_ us—"

"Hold on, Ms. Abbott," Devía laughed. "Before I do anything, I'm going to need a volunteer. Preferably one with a relatively good-sized amount of magical creature experience," she added, tossing her hair over her shoulder and tilting her head meaningfully at Alec. He childishly stuck his tongue out at her.

"Obviously, there's only one person here who fits that prerequisite," Draco muttered.

Ron seemed to agree, and he coughed a muffled "_Harry_!" into his hand as Ginny surreptitiously pointed at the detached nineteen year old.

"'ey, you there! You with the glasses skulking around in the back with the harlot hanging off your side, so good of you to volunteer," Alec said briskly. Harry started, his head jerking up in alarm, staring at Alec in momentary shock as if he couldn't quite believe Alec had called on him in without his permission.

"This is not a democracy, Mr. Potter, this is a dictatorship, and sometime before the cows come home would be convenient," Alec drawled, mysteriously smirking at Devía. She shook her head, radiance in her eyes, and murmured, "You're cruel, darling, you know you are."

"Only for the special people, love," he returned with a smile as Harry sighed tiredly at Ron before disengaging himself from a scowling Cho and cautiously moving ahead of the class.

"Wait."

He stopped dead as Devía glanced at him, halfway to the treeline where the unicorn stood, and held up a finger. She brushed her cheek up against Iowyn's shimmering mane as the unicorn perked an ear toward her lips. Suddenly, unexpectedly, the unicorn turned directly toward Harry and slightly dipped her head.

"All right, come on," Devía said, smiling.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered faintly, his mouth hanging open. "She really _can_ talk to it."

"_Her_, Mr. Weasley."

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand as she and Draco shared a secret grin. _Ronnikins has never shut up so fast in his entire life until she got here. The old Hermione would be so impressed with herself._

Harry inched forward warily, his eyes involuntarily drinking in the absolute beauty of the creature in front of him, although it was obvious he wasn't happy about his designated job. He was doing everything in his power to maintain as minimal of contact with Devía as possible.

"Er…What now?" he asked, uncertainly fingering his wand as the unicorn appraisingly swung her head his way and Devía moved over, running her hand lightly down the unicorn's neck.

Devía murmured once again in Iowyn's ear and appeared to listen for a reply. She pulled away and smiled up at Harry, trying to lessen some of his obvious discomfort. "She says you can touch her."

Harry bit his lip and took a small step back, shoving one hand in his pocket. "I.. . I can't," he muttered quickly, running his other hand nervously through his messy hair, his emerald eyes clearly saying he desperately wished he could be anywhere but there.

**God, Harry, don't make me have this discussion again. **"She gave you permission, Mr. Potter. Give me one good reason why you can't." Devía lowered her voice so the rest of the class wouldn't be able to hear the gist of the conversation. Alec nodded slightly at her before stepping nearer the class and asking, "Now, who here has ever had any first-hand experience with a unicorn?"

Harry set his jaw and stared emotionlessly at a point just beyond Devía's head. Finally, he muttered, "I'm not pure."

Even Devía didn't expect that answer, and both of her thin, dark eyebrows shot up. "_What_?!"

Uncomfortably crossing his arms and shoving his shoe in the mud, Harry said, "We learned about unicorns last year. Only those who are pure can touch them. I'm not. I killed Voldemort; loads of people died because of my mistakes; I'm a murderer."

"Well, let me know which book you found that in so I can rip it out of the library." Devía narrowed her eyes and mulled over her options. Finally, she firmly grabbed his wrist, and in one quick tug placed his hand on Iowyn's side.

Harry sucked in a sharp breath and tried to jerk his hand away, but Devía held it there with unexpected strength, saying, "How about we let her decide?"

At that moment, Iowyn twisted her elegant head around and softly nudged Harry's hand, blowing into it delicately. Devía felt, rather than saw, Harry's arm slowly relax, and he more confidently placed his hand lightly on Iowyn's back. For a moment, a fleeting moment, Devía saw an expression of unicorn-induced peace float over her old friend's face, but it vanished as soon as it came and was replaced by an unconcerned stare, and Devía knew it was time to teach. "Alright, since you two are good friends now, let's get this started. You and Iowyn will perform a basic invisibility spell. No, you don't need your wand," she added as Harry involuntarily reached for the wooden stick.

"What?" he asked in a low voice, shifting his eyes off the unicorn to meet hers'.

"That's the beauty of unicorn magic. Thank you, Professor Smart; class, _HEL_-LO!" Devía barked, causing Ron to leap half a foot in the air and Ginny to giggle. "Back to earth after Intermission with Alec. In order to create any magical connection with a magical creature, you must first obtain their permission. Mr. Potter, next to me, if you would."

Harry shifted again so that both he and Devía faced Iowyn. "Now, bow, again," Devía instructed, mentally smiling as her mind flew back to Harry's first encounter with Buckbeak in third year. After Devía inclined her head and Harry dipped his shoulders slightly, Iowyn momentarily lowered herself down on one leg and then stood expectantly, her icy blue eyes shining. "Now, if you could guess the one place from which a unicorn's magic can flow, Draco, you would say…?"

Draco's gray blue eyes quickly studied the unicorn. "The horn."

"Exactly, very good, Mr. Malfoy. And due to a unicorn's natural capacity for magic, combined with a wizard's magical strength, Mr. Potter won't be needing his wand to turn himself and Iowyn invisible."

"Blimey!" Terry cackled delightedly, grinning at Ginny as the class broke out in excited chatter, causing Alec to bark, "Silence in the ranks!"

Devía rolled her eyes. "Very professional, Smart, five points to your house. Okay, Mr. Potter, reach out and put your fingertips on Iowyn's horn. Near the top, not the base."

Harry's unfathomable green eyes had locked with the unicorn's, and he didn't break contact when he reached out and touch the smoothness of the fair horn. "And now?"

"The spell is _Ledia Invisum_. Keep looking at her and don't say it, think it will all your might, and it'll happen." Devía gave Harry a moment to actually absorb the information, and she placed her hand on the unicorn's side as he repeatedly muttered the spell under his breath. "Okay, now. Do it now."

Harry sucked in another deep breath, so he stood even taller than is original six foot height. A moment later, both he and Devía blinked out of sight.

The class's volume rose to a small roar. "Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed delightedly as Ginny cackled, "Wicked!" Draco's mouth had dropped open, and he blinked in utter shock, shaking his head.

"_Merlin_," Luna finally whispered, her face pale, "This… this must be one of the Delaveger powers! No one… no one seems to realize how absolutely _unheard of_ this is!"

"Don't think I don't know," Draco hissed in a low voice, blowing a long lungful of air out of his mouth in a whistle. "Oh, the Dark Lord would've given _anything_ to have this on his side."

"What, her or the unicorn?" Ginny asked warily, catching his comment and staring at the spot her newly discovered old friend had stood moments before.

"Both," Draco said darkly.

"Nice, Mr. Potter. Twenty points to Gryffindor."

Harry blinked down at the unicorn, shoving some hair out of his eyes as a gust of wind blew it in his face. "We're invisible?"

Devía grinned, rhythmically running her hand down Iowyn's side. "I wouldn't have given you twenty points if you had done it wrong. It would've been more like five in the hole."

Harry's eyes seemed to faintly sparkle behind his glasses, but then he frowned. "How come you can still see me, then?"

Devía resisted retorting, **What, wished **I** would have pulled an invisible man, too?** "I hung on while you said the spell. And you can let go now, Mr. Potter."

"Oh," Harry muttered, less sure of himself now. He released the unicorn's horn he had been gripping tightly, and he could have sworn Iowyn and Devía exchanged a grin.

"That was _wicked_!" Terry said excitedly as Harry and Devía popped back into sight. "Let's do it again."

Devía laughed as Harry smiled half-heartedly, giving Iowyn one last stroke before quickly rejoining Cho at the back of the group. "Your enthusiasm is lovely, Mr. Boot, you're parents would be quite proud, I'm sure, but—"

"Class is dismissed, time's up!" Alec announced with a charming smile, making Hannah swoon into Luna's side as he lightly stepped up beside Devía and pointed toward the castle. "If you want to spend more quality learning time with Professor Delaveger, as she has recently asserted her unwonted influence over the powers-that-be-at-Hogwarts, feel free to nab yourself a detention, preferably one involving some kind Umbridotage!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Devía interrupted, crossing her arms and glaring at Alec and the retreating students. "Since when are you in charge?"

"Since now," Alec said with an innocent grin as Devía pulled a face, vigorously stroking Iowyn. "Let's face it, love, some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue. You'll get over it. C'mon, shoo, flies, shoo! Back to the castle! Time for a little R 'n R and lunch!"

"Umbridotage?" Ron called back down the hill with a laugh as Devía marched over to Alec and shoved his right shoulder back, looking put out.

"Umbridge plus sabotage equals Umbridgotage. As you all are going on nineteen I had hoped you'd have passed Basic Arithmancy—OW, love! What did I ever do to you?"

"_Gee_, Alec darling, now wait! Let me count the ways…."

Ron grinned, pulling on his cloak as the January sun disappeared behind a cloud, and another burst of wind blew down from across the field and turning to his best friend. "So, Harry mate, how was a) touching a unicorn, a creature so magical and mysterious few can even get near it and b) pulling a disappearing act with quite possibly the hottest professor to ever step foot in Hogwarts?"

"Ron!" Luna chided, hissing like an angry goose, while Ginny smirked knowingly at Draco. "You are so _superficial_!"

Harry actually paused, considering the question as the eight trudged back through the mud to the castle. "A was like feeling unimaginable power in every part of your body, it's hard to explain. B," Harry paused uncomfortably, glancing furtively at an icy Cho as she stalked forward, "Ron, I—er… don't share your taste in women, I'm afraid…"

"Bullshit," Ginny muttered, edging closer to Draco as they walked up the steps of the castle. "He fancies her, just like he fancied her in forth year. She made him smile back in the common room last week."

"Yeah, and she also completely chewed him out Friday. And that means he fancies her?" Draco raised his eyebrows mischievously at her. "Since when did you become such a Potter expert?"

"Since I used to be infatuated with him oh-so-many years ago," Ginny retorted without so much as a hint of a blush, tossing her red hair stubbornly over her shoulder. "And, yes, considering he _never_ smiles, I would have to say that is a definite fancy-indicator."

A/N: As always, please review!! PS: Wish me luck, I have finals all this week and my hardest one is tomorrow morning! And of course I definitely should be studying but seeing as I cranked out this chapter in one night y'all know what I was really working on. Gah! Are y'all done with finals or just taking them now? Or are you done with them permanently? (lucky buggers!)

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	19. The Last Kiss

A/N: The reviews are great! Your reviews made my exam week a WHOLE lot better, let me tell you. For whoever cares (probably only rain-witch), my exams actually went really well considering. Thank you Missing Fairy, you were way too generous with your words! DJ-Greenleaf: hola to you tambien! I could _totally_ understand everything you said! Thank you for your great review! It is so cool that you're from South America! Amdorn: never fear, the Umbridgotage will be coming up in a few chapters. I'm glad this fic has that kind of effect on you. You can never stop smiling :-) Whew, this is my longest chapter! It about wraps up most of Devía's flashbacks, and the next chapter is really focused on developing Harry and Devía's relationship, with a horrible discovery thrown in.

Who can say for certain  
Maybe you're still here  
I feel you all around me  
Your memories so clear  
Deep in the stillness  
I can hear you speak  
You're still an inspiration

Can it be  
That you are mine  
Forever love  
And you are watching over me  
From up above

Fly me up to where you are  
Beyond the distant star  
I wish upon tonight  
To see you smile  
If only for a while  
To know you're there  
A breath away's not far to where you are

Are you gently sleeping  
Here inside my dream?  
And isn't faith believing  
All power can't be seen  
As my heart holds you  
Just one beat away  
I cherish all you gave me  
Everyday

Cause you are mine  
Forever love  
Watching me  
From up above

And I believe  
That angels breathe  
and that love will live on  
And never leave

Fly me up to where you are  
Beyond the distant star  
I wish upon tonight  
To see you smile  
If only for a while  
To know you're there  
A breath away's not far to where you are

I know you're there  
A breath away's not far to where you are

-Josh Groban, To Where You Are

**Last time:** "What? What's wrong?!" Derek practically shook Devía. "Why wasn't it an accident?"

"Because there's another one coming."

Even after playing in a life-sized, wizard's chess game, being frozen by a basilisk, facing the most feared outlaw on the planet, running away from a werewolf, hearing her best friend tell her that the Dark Lord had returned, finding out she wasn't the person she had been living her life as, and living through a typhoon and shipwreck, Devía had never thought it was actually possibly to feel her own heart stop beating until that moment. Derek's eyes met hers, and there was a desperate urgency, a deadly certainty in the amethyst pools that Derek had never seen before. Without a word they both spun around and tore away at top speed toward Warren, Liz, Lucy, Shawn, and the elevator.

"_He's looking at me. _Why_ is he lookin' at me?"_

"_Gee, Katie, I wonder. Maybe because he thinks you're gonna finish up your little strip show in here?"_

"_He really needs to stop lookin' at me." Katie buried her head under Ian's arm as the taxi made a sharp right turn, tires squealing. _

"_Gotta wonder when we're gonna crash," Ian continued under his breath, swearing as the taxi now began to rapidly weave in and out of the heavy morning traffic._

"_Wha'?" Katie's voice came out from Ian's jacket, muffled. "C'wash?"_

"_I mean, he's obviously _not_ watchin' the road," Ian said pointedly, smirking and sounding more than slightly amused as Katie hit his leg with her purse—"Phwat's NOT Punny!"—Which as it was only caused him to laugh harder. His laughter froze, however, when the taxi swerved again, and his nose was pressed hard up against the window. "_Damn _tax—Hey. Um, driver?" Ian asked, noticing his surroundings and leaning forward toward the front seat. "Are you lost or something?"  
_

"_What you say?" asked the cabbie, and his eyes shifted from Katie to Ian in the rearview mirror._

"_The Pacific Ocean is _that_ way," Ian enunciated slowly, pointing forward. "However, the _World Trade Center_ is _that_ way." Ian spun around in his seat, his pointer finger still extended. "You _just_ passed the _exit_—"Suddenly, his words froze on his lips._

"_Okay, this I understand," said the driver irritatedly, glancing back in his rearview mirror. "I fix fast, you watch—" SCREECH!_

"_Hey now!" Katie flew forward, slamming in the passenger front seat as the cabbie unexpectedly jammed hard on the brakes, craning her head around just in time to see another cab skid and smash into their trunk. The shock sent her lurching backward and rammed the back of her head on the back window as the domino effect of several crashing sounds and car alarms could be heard. _

_Katie groaned and weakly lifted a hand to the back of her head. "You fix fast, alright." She began massaging her neck furiously. "Gosh dang it, what the hell was that…Ian? Ian, what are you doing? Ian!"_

_Ian had promptly wrenched open his door and unsteadily stepped out into the middle of the highway, blinking and holding a hand up to his eyes to shade the bright sunlight. Strangely, however, but to Katie's relief and shock, an oncoming bus did not immediately mow him down. In fact, all traffic flow seemed to have halted._

"Ianwhatareyoudoing_?" Katie hissed through clenched teeth. She pulled her duster sweater tightly around her body with a huff, as if gathering her dignity, and sprang out of the cab after him. "_What_ is the _matter_ with you?" she demanded, grabbing his arm and shaking it as the sound of hundreds of car doors opening and slamming reached her ears. Ian didn't flinch or even acknowledge her as he simply rolled with her jerking, staring at something in the not-so-far distance. Katie let out an agitated growl and ran a hand through her long white tresses, glancing down the avenue like most of the other maniac drivers around her._

_Katie's hand froze halfway down her neck and her mouth positively fell open. "Oh my God," she whispered faintly, squinted to make sure her eyes weren't playing some sick game with her. Then what she was seeing really registered. "Oh my GOD!" she repeated, louder, a hand popping up to her mouth in horror and stunned astonishment, as oncoming drivers stuck in the 75-something car pileup began pounding their horns, only raising the volume of several drivers shouting across their cars at each other. Katie's eye caught one man actually shaking his fist threateningly at the woman a few cars over from him. "Everybody… Lord, Ian, everybody else… I'm sure half of them are there already…"In a matter of seconds, her tanned face had paled to nearly match her hair color. "Ian, what if they're _in_ there?"_

"_It's okay." Ian finally snapped out of his stupor. "That's the North Tower, see the radio antenna? They went to the South Tower, they'll be okay."_

_Katie was gaping, transfixed, at the smoke billowing out of the jagged hole in the side of the North Tower. "WHAT?" she yelled to Ian over the augmenting noise._

"_I said—" Ian started, trying to find the source of the added noise, which had now risen to a steady roar, "They're IN the OTHER TOWER! They SHOULD BE OKAY—"_

_Suddenly, a bulky, dark shadow sped overhead for a split second, and Ian glanced up, recognizing the noise as screaming engines, plane engines. "WHY THE HELL IS IT FLYING SO LOW?" he shouted, one hand cupped to Katie's ear, but she screamed and clutched his arm, dumbstruck, as the jet abruptly turned and disappeared into the heart of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, as if the building itself had simply swallowed it up, a huge fireball exploding from the other side of the building, the plane never emerging again. Ian's mouth fell open in shock as he saw a shower of glass and metal cascade at least eight hundred feet to the ground.  
_

_And then there was the silence. Complete, utter, devastating silence._

_He saw Katie swallow hard, turn to him with terror in her eyes, whisper, "What was that you were just saying about them bein' okay?"_

_And Ian just stared at her in disbelief. Because, for all he knew, his six best friends in the entire world could have just been blown up seconds before._

**The Thirty-Seventh Floor**_…_

_The smoke was so thick, Devía's eyes were watering, but she could still see. She, Derek, Liz, Warren, Lucy, and Shawn were attempting to trot ahead of the leagues of people streaming, streaming from every direction, streaming to get to a few flights of stairs. It was a nearly impossible task to accomplish. Tall people, short people, dark, light, tan people, people in business suits carrying briefcases, people dressed casually carrying cameras, people looking very much like the six friends. _

"_Stupid, stupid," Warren muttered. "They're making it sound like a drill. Did you hear them—those people who just went by, right there? Said all they know is that the power went out."  
_

"_Well, do you know what happened?" asked an attractive woman in her late twenties, clothed in a business dress and high-heeled shoes that clicked noisily with each step she took._

**Those have to be hell to wear. Take them off, be free!**

"_As a matter of fact, we do," Warren answered in such an imperious tone, Devía almost smiled. Almost._

"_What _did_ happen, then?" the dark haired woman asked. Craning her neck to the left near the break in the railing and tilting her head backward, Devía could just make out an ominous blazing red glow far above. "All kinds of rumors are flying around. I don't know what to believe anymore. Most people have said it's a fire—obviously," she added with a nervous laugh and a jagged cough. Devía noticed for the first time that the stairway was quickly clogging with smoke as another smoldering wave drifted down the stairwell. It was also rapidly filling with more and more people, which made traffic. Traffic made slow travel. Slow travel…Well, who knew what that would make?_

"_I just hope it wasn't another bomb, like the one a few years ago," she added, jokingly._

"_Then you really don't know?" Warren asked in surprise. The woman shook her head, the bewildered expression in her eyes concurring. "Well, it…it wasn't a bomb!" he began, trying to be optimistic._

"_Thank god," the brunette muttered, but Devía and Derek exchanged a sharp, tense glance._

"_Ummm…" Warren chuckled apprehensively, wondering exactly how to break it to her, and suddenly skidded to avoid a rush of businessmen surging into the stairwell from the thirty-sixth floor. "It was actually worse than a bomb, I'm thinkin'."_

"_Depends on what kind of a bomb," Shawn mused. "Now, if it was, like, a _nuclear_ bomb, then dude! That'd be pretty ba—"_

"_Shut up, Shawn," Lucy said edgily, her voice a pitch higher than normal._

_The brunette, who had now settled for walking on their right, looked confused, and Devía figured that she might as well drop the bomb…figuratively speaking. "They were planes that hit."_

_The brunette blinked, and then cocked her head at Devía as if she was sure she had heard incorrectly in the noisy, crowded stairway. "Pardon me?"_

_Devía glanced at Derek for help. "Two 747s or one of the other large ones," Derek explained, picking up where Devía knew not of the Muggle world. "One of each crashed into both towers. One right after another. If we wouldn't have gotten out of the elevator halfway down we'd be burnt to death right now; the jet fuel probably blew up everything in the elevator shaft."_

_Devía shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself, and Derek draped a comforting arm over her shoulder as they plodded down the endless flight of stairs_**. Thirty six. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Thirty six and a half. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Thirty five.**_ Would it ever stop?_

"What? Planes_?" the brunette exclaimed, her face a mask of both utter disbelief and an 'oh-you-teenagers-exaggerate-everything' look. "That…that can't be right. Are you sure?"_

"_Honey," Liz interjected, speaking for the first time since the first plane had struck the World Trade Center. "We were standing on the roof. We saw the whole damn thing. We saw the freakin' plane wire on to the North Tower like a missile and never even _try_ to avoid it. We saw the second plane flying _right_ at us like a bat straight out of hell, and _we're_ lucky as hell to be alive. Trust me when I say we're sure."_

_The brunette looked like a briefcase had hit her in the stomach. "What could have happened? Could it have been a horrible accident?"  
_

"_Hell no," Derek snorted, shaking his blond head in complete disagreement, an acidic frown on his face. "No accident could be _that_ accidental—"_

"_Simultaneously," Devía finished for him, her hand tightening around his. "I mean, one plane accidentally running the tallest building in New York City might be eerily plausible if the pilot happened to be _blind_, but _two_ is not even—" _

_BANG! The metal door to the thirty fourth floor unexpectedly burst open as the seven passed by, slamming the brunette and a thirty-something man hard against the wall. Three frantic looking, buff but middle-aged businessmen, all carrying briefcases, shot out of the room. Devía gaped at empty floor where the brunette had stood seconds before, and Derek yanked her backwards before the men could collide with her. The trio shoved their way past, barreling down the stairs amidst sporadic, outraged shouts. _

"_Hey!" Lucy yelled as they disappeared down the smoky stairway. "HEY! That wasn't too cool!" _

"_Save it, Lu," Devía advised, shaking her sooty apple cinnamon tresses, her heart still pounding from her near crash. "They aren't worth it."_

_Derek gingerly edged the door away from the wall, trying to avoid blocking the path of the tens of others coming down behind them, holding his hand to his face as he began to cough from the thickening smoke. He frowned without explanation and stepped back so Devía could squeeze herself against him. She blinked in shock and involuntarily cringed. The man, whose head was bleeding profusely, had been completely knocked out, and the pretty brunette's face had turned ashen, her leg jutting out at an odd angle. _

"_Ouch," the brunette muttered faintly._

"_Good lord, what happened?" an older businessman with snow-white hair stopped beside Devía and Derek. _

_  
"They got sandwiched," Devía explained, glancing weakly over her shoulder at Warren, Liz, Shawn, and Lucy, who had flattened themselves against the wall in an attempt to keep from being swept farther down the stairs, her mind working overtime. "We have to get them down. They can't stay up here."_** Let's see, I could levitate them, but no, there's too many muggles around. Bugger, I can't use my wand anyway, I haven't had it since I got back from the island. Shit. How— **

"_Let me help you." The grandfatherly man promptly dropped his briefcase to the floor, prying the unconscious younger man away from the wall, obviously not needing a wand for whatever he meant to do._

"_Here, I'll make a chair with you," Warren said abruptly, coming off the wall and sidling up alongside the man. "We'll carry him down."_

"_Sounds like a plan," the man replied, even though Devía thought he looked to be at least sixty five years old. The two crouched down, linked hands behind the businessman, and heaved him up._

"_I'm Rob," the older man grunted._

"_Warren," said Warren with a forced but easy grin. With these introductions being made, they started off down the low-visibility staircase. _

"_We've got Ally down here," Lucy announced, reading the tag off the woman's fallen briefcase and shaking herself out of her stupor and swooping down before Derek and Devía even had a chance to step forward. Several other people had also slowed down, looking ready to help, but she and Shawn hefted up the brunette. _

"_Guys, come on," Devía said, placing a hand on Shawn's bulging bicep. "We'll help you."_

_  
"Nope." Lucy grunted as she shifted Ally in her arms to get a better grip. "We're good. There might be others. You wait. See y'all soon." _

"_Okay, let's keep moving." Derek sighed, watching the backs of Lucy and Shawn's heads swim in the steady flow of people and smoke, finally becoming completely indistinguishable. _

"_I swear to God," Liz said, starting back down the hateful, dizzying stairs, "once I get out of this dang building I am _never_ gonna set foot on another freakin' set 'a stairs again."_

"_So instead you'll take an elevator," Derek said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at her. _

"_Uh-huh," Lucy said in a "shut up" voice, crossing her arms in a huff and walking silently beside them. "Hey… guys?" she finally asked in a completely different tone. "You think… you think whoever did this is done?"_

_Devía sighed, shrugging. "Let's ho—" Her hand swiftly shot out and caught the thirtieth floor door to keep it from slamming shut. "_Holy_….Merlin."_

"_What? What is it?" Liz poked her head around the door and stepped inside the large hallway to avoid the flood of people still pouring down the stairway. The hall was completely, eerily deserted, the only signs of its previous occupants being a few abandoned sheets of paper littering the floor. Completely deserted, except for a small portable TV left on a side table, a TV that someone, in their haste, had forgotten to switch off._

_And it was currently displaying a picture of the burning World Trade Center._

"_This sucks," Liz said bleakly, staring, hypnotized, at the bold, red words, the words that were without a doubt any country's worst nightmare: AMERICA UNDER ATTACK! AMERICA UNDER ATTACK! flashing at the bottom of the screen. _

"_Do they say who did it?" Derek asked, and Devía jumped. He had made it into the room and had come up so quietly behind her, she hadn't known he was there. _

"_Hang on—Let me turn it up." Devía reached out and pressed the UP volume arrow several notches, just in time to see the anchorwoman's shocked face interrupt the image of the fiery Twin Towers. "We have a breaking story! A _breaking_ story!"_

"_What could be more breaking than planes flying into the World Trade Center?" Liz asked, her voice faint, uptight._

"_I'm willing to be we're going to find out," Derek muttered._

_The anchorwoman's voice was shaking now, and even on television she appeared muddled and disorganized. She squinted incredulously at the reading material on her desk. "We are… we are receiving reports that a _passenger jet_ has _just_ crashed into the _Pentagon_!"_

_Devía's blood turned cold, almost stopped dead. The TV was still sporadically blinking, AMERICA UNDER ATTACK! across the screen, the anchorwoman was still babbling, and chilling images were still alternating on the tiny monitor._

_Finally, Liz whispered, "I think that would qualify as a breaking news story."_

"_Who is _doing_ this?" Devía whispered. Her stomach tightened as the name VODEMORT flashed through her mind for the first time in three years. She shivered as Derek wrapped his arms tightly around her, and they all wordlessly started at the haunting picture of the flaming Pentagon, the center of America's military might, now up in smoke. _

"_Let's go," Devía said tensely, and the trio fled the desolate hallway with the TV on the thirtieth floor._

**Far Below…..**

"_Are you _sure_ this is a good idea?"_

"_Katie, it's not like the thing's gonna fall down. Come _on_." Ian grabbed Katie's hand and led her through and around crowds of reporters, police, firefighters, and rescue personnel on the street toward the base of the South Tower. _

"_Think they'll let us in?"_

"_Don't know." There were policemen positioned at points along the block-long row of doors, ushering hundreds of people out of the building, and sirens screamed as firefighters rushed in and out, radios and walkie-talkies crackling. Besides the rescue personnel, however, Katie and Ian were the only ones trying to get back inside._

"_Sorry," a policeman said firmly, barring his area of the entrance as Katie and Ian quickly trooped up the stairs. _

Katie looked at Ian and he looked back at her. Their faces both mirrored the same expression: We didn't walk, hitchhike, and run seven miles back here to meet up with **him**_. And the desperation in Ian's eyes was enough to worry Katie about whatever he was concocting up next._

"_We leave building _un momento_ ago!" Ian exclaimed in a thick Spanish accent, waving his hands frantically. "We leave el perro inside. I see him now, that window, there he is!! Juan Carlos, good dog, ven a mi, Juan Carlos, COME!" _

"_No pets are ever allowed into the building," the policeman said, looking torn as he stood between them and the gaping interior foyer of glass. _

"_He famoso en los Estados," Ian explained. "Es Taco Bell talking Chihuahua dog. From the… how you say? From the commercials! You watch, no?"_

_Katie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms._

"_Sorry, kid. LO SIENTO." The policeman enunciated slowly, obviously stressed to his breaking point. "If your dog is in there, somebody else will find him. I can't let you go back in there. _No puede ir_."_

_Ian feigned tears, putting on an act truly worthy of Broadway. "No, no, he still alive, _Margarita_!" he wept, reaching out blindly to clutch Katie's arm, beginning to hyperventilate. Katie stared at him, horrified, and edged away an inch as he set up a wail. "Mi _bebe_! I cannot _leave_ him en _con los extranjeros!_ Not when I always tell him, I say, Juan Carlos! No speak to _strangers_! I cannot leave him to die, I cannot, I cannot!" Ian choked, covering his face with his hands as he cracked up._

_By now, several people passing by were giving the policeman rather dirty looks, and as a fellow officer hailed him down, the policeman grunted, "All right. You have ten minutes. Run in, get you dog, and get your butts back out here. DIEZ MINUTOS PARA EL PERRO!!"_

"_Oh, _muchas gracias_, señor, muchas gracias!" Ian exclaimed gleefully. He seemed suspiciously ready to jump on the policeman and hug him wildly, so Katie grabbed him and dragged him inside, Ian still calling, "Juan Carlos! Ven a mi! Come to daddy!"_

_As soon as they were inside the main lobby and safely out of any kind of hearing distance, not a difficult task due to the incredible volume of sirens, shouts, and speakers, Katie flung Ian away from her. "Juan _Carlos, _the Taco Bell dog? Mexican _immigrants_? We both have _white_ hair, Ian. Do you know how _humiliating_ that just was for me?"_

_Ian shrugged unconcernedly, glancing around the sea of faces in the lobby, distracted. "Hey, it worked, didn't it?"_

"_I cannot _believe_ you!" Katie seethed and tossed her hair over her shoulder in a huff. As she did, a flash of familiarity caught the corner of her eye._

"_Now how in the hell are we gonna find them in he—" Ian started, but Katie yanked him around. "Katie, what—" he began to ask, but Katie was jumping up and down and yelling, "Warren! WARREN! Over here!"_

"_One sec," Warren panted to Katie, and he edged past them alongside an old man Katie didn't know. They were carrying a businessman whose head was bleeding profusely. Then Warren and the old guy were handing their luggage to passing medics near the door, Warren was saying, "Thanks, Rob, good luck, man," and Rob nodded and streamed out the door._

_Warren was back._

"_Where's everybody?" Katie asked him, peering back in the direction he had arrived._

"_They're coming," he said. "Behind me." No sooner had the words come out of his mouth when Lucy, Shawn and Liz came up alongside their small group._

_  
"Thank you _God_," Lucy gasped as she approached, promptly plopping down on the marble floor, breathing hard, her face sweaty and red. "Lucy has almost died."_

_"You guys finally decided to show up," Warren noted to Katie and Ian._

"_Hey!" Katie poked a finger at his chest. "You don't know what we went through to get here."_

"_What do we do now?" asked Shawn, warily eyeing the dark shadow cast by the smoking sky directly outside the building. "And where are the double D's?"_

"_They're coming," Liz said with a knowing grin at Warren. "After Derek does his delayed duty."_

"_Shit, about time," Ian muttered. "He was drivin' me half crazy every time he asked. 'Should I do it now? Or maybe now? What about right now as I'm coming out of the bathroom?"_

"_Let's for the happy couple by the door; maybe we can throw ash at them as they walk by," Katie suggested, grinning. "And the roads are totally impassible. We have to walk back to the hotel. It's about ten miles."_

_"Lucy has now died and gone to hell," Lucy muttered to no one in general, cracking herself up._

_Firemen and rescue personnel were streaming in and out of the doors, and the lobby was still full of people. The six were more than halfway to the wall of doors when all the emergency lights flashed out, and the only remaining illumination streamed in through the doors. The greater powers of the universe seemed to press _pause_ as the moving crowd and surrounding noise momentarily halted. The lull before the storm._

"_What the hell—" Warren began._

_Suddenly something massive crashed behind them, and the firemen who had been ordering people to calm down were now yelling, "Run, dammit, everyone get out! RUN NOW!", panic sweeping through those still remaining in the building. And then one fireman screamed three implausible, numbing, incomprehensible words: "_IT'S COMING DOWN!_"_

**The Third Floor above the Atrium….**

"_Meet you at the bottom," Devía called to Liz._

"_You got it, sister. Y'all come back now. Be careful," Liz called, pausing to smirk mysteriously at Derek. He grinned self-consciously and ran a hand through his jaggedly cut sandy blond hair. "Good-BYE Liz!"_

_Liz laughed mischievously and turned, a new bounce in her step, down the few remaining stairs. _

"_Thank the heavens." Devía leaned against the wall. "Sixty flights down, three to go. It's all downhill from here."_

"_It's been all downhill since we started." Derek grinned and leaned alongside her against the wall, tilting his head so it rested on top of hers, unusually quiet as the steady stream of passer-bys slowed to a trickle. He had reached deep into his inside jacket pocket and was fiddling with something inside._

_Devía glanced at him. "Der? You all right?"_

_He glanced down at her, a smile lighting up his face. "Yeah, Dev, um…" He blinked as a sudden burst of light broke through the dark clouds outside. The smoke was just beginning to clear. Sunlight danced across the glass, because glass was everywhere, some shattered from the original collision, most still relatively intact. He had now brought his lips down to her neck, his warm breath right there, so close by... "Do you love me, Dev?" he asked suddenly, staring at the grey plaster wall across the stairwell. "I mean, do you believe in finding real love, even though we're barely legal? Do you believe it's possible?"_

_She smiled lightly, bringing her hand up and resting her fingertips on his cheek. "Derek! You know as well as I do that you and I were made for each other." She paused a beat, then leaned against his strong body, breathed into his ear, "I believe I have always loved you, Derek Kennedy, and both you and I know I always will." _

_From her slanted viewpoint, Devía saw a rugged smile spread across Derek's face. "This isn't exactly the ideal place, but I can't wait, Dev…" He inhaled deeply and quickly spun around to face her. Devía's eyes turned from confused to shocked to overjoyed to tear-filled as he dropped to one knee, soot dotting his attractive, tan face like dark freckles. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, and in the hand was a small, fuzzy black box, and in the box… Devía blinked as the sunlight immediately was sparkling, shining off diamonds and gold. He took her slender hand in his familiar, strong one, rubbing it comfortingly with his thumbs. "Devía, I love you. I love you more than anything else in this world that I will ever, ever love." He paused, his shining azure eyes locking earnestly on her brilliant, shimmering amethyst ones. "Will you marry me, Devía Delaveger?" _

_Devía stared at him in utter astonishment, the world going by in slow motion. "Yes…" she whispered, finally finding her tongue, surprise, joy elation, love, every kind of happy emotion dancing across her eyes, her voice steadily rising as a passing middle-aged woman dabbed at her eyes and smiled at the pair. "Yes, _YES_, you _know_ I will! YES!"_

"_Yes, yes you will," Derek repeated. "You will. _She said YES_!" Derek howled gleefully, an elated smile on his face as he slipped the dazzling ring on her finger, kissed her hand, leapt to his feet and spun her around in a wild circle as she laughed happily, tears of joy streaming down her face, and the few other people in the stairway started to clap, one pudgy businessman sticking two fingers between his lips and whistling shrilly. "Yes…" He whispered, dipping her backward, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, and lowering his lips to hers—_

_The sun disappeared behind the billowing black clouds of smoke at the same time the emergency lights flickered out._

"_Love," Devía whispered, intoxicated in Derek's smell, not noticing the world continue on around them, reaching up to run her hand through his thick blond hair in pure bliss, watching in what seemed like slow motion as his affectionate blue eyes widened in horror— _

"Dev, MOVE_!" Derek flung Devía forward against the far wall at an incredible BOOM and a resounding CRASH, a mixture of crumbling cement and clattering, sharp metal debris raining down on her head and kicking up an incredible dusty atmosphere as the building shuddered. Devía stepped backward fearfully, hugging the wall, and heard a wail issue from behind her; turning around she could just make out a little, curly-haired, pig-tailed pixie face curled up on the ground. As Devía instinctively swooped down and scooped up the girl, the noise let up, and she stood slowly in horrific realization. "Derek?" she breathed in terror. Silence, the sound of faint screaming, was all the met her ears, and for the second time that day, her heart stopped beating. "_Derek_? DEREK!" _

_Hoisting the sobbing child on one hip, Devía carefully maneuvered across what remained of her immediate, darkened stairwell, covering her mouth and the little girl's with her jacket at the suffocating, powdered air. _A cough_. Devía froze and spun to her left, dropping to her knees as the faint choke sounded again, wincing as the metal, glass, whatever what on the floor cut into the knees of her jeans. "Derek?!" she whispered urgently, frantically tearing away what she could of the monstrous pile of debris. "Derek, answer me, damn it!" _

_  
"Dev?" the voice was faint, weak, irregular, so unlike the vivacious voice she had heard seconds before. Squinting in the dust-clogged darkness, Devía could barely make out the outline of a massive slab of jagged, twisted metal jutting out of the shadows. She desperately yanked off another small chunk of plaster, uncovering Derek's now dust-covered head and his right arm. "Oh thank Merlin," Devía breathed, still balancing the crying girl. _

"_Dev…" he repeated, his voice hardly audible now, even in the shades of darkness his face visibly ashen. _

_  
For a moment they just stared at each other, not breathing, Devía's normally tip-top brain now frozen in panic, until the building vibrated again and she placed the little girl gently on the floor and determinedly grasped the metal bulk, working her fingers around its rough, sharp edges. Squeezing her eyes shut, Devía lifted up with all her might, straining as she never had before, screaming in frustration when it hardly budged._

"_Dev…" he whispered again, opening one clear, azure eye to find her outline. "The sky's falling, Dev, get… get out of here now. Get out…"_

_It was then that Devía saw the blood streaming under the metal, pooling under his arm, dying his blond hair a shade that was so alien to him. Gaping in horror at his eyes, his eyes now so heavy as a low resonating rumble passed overhead, Devía knew. And she knew Derek knew, too. _

"_I'll…always…be right here, Dev… right here…" he choked as he feebly reached his free hand up toward her heart, but his voice was so weak now Devía couldn't even hear it, she could only see his mouth form the words, a thin trickle of red shining on his lips, and the same tears of joy that had fallen from Devía's eyes poured out now, poured in a help rage, in indescribable grief at what she knew was happening, the rumble getting louder and louder; something was crashing farther in the lobby, she could hear it, glass was shattering, blowing out, and for a split second she wondered if the sky really _was_ falling— Wait. The Kiss. _**It's all I have left.**

_Devía fell to Derek's side, gently resting one hand on his face, and touched his lips for the last time, his running roughly against hers, his tongue snaking into her mouth, tasting her tears, she tasting his blood, both of them throwing everything they had left into that last kiss—_**WHY ISN'T IT WORKING? WORK, PLEASE, DEAR LORD, **COME ON_— as something directly above them gave way, and suddenly the neatly printed words scripted on parchment came back like a phantom to haunt her, the seemingly simple words now mocking her_: 'The Kiss of Life and Death is a purely magical entity, to be only effective on witches and wizards…'_ Derek's right hand, so tightly clutching hers, loosened and slipped away, and the little girl was screaming as the rumble grew to a reverberating roar, the entire earth shaking as tears streamed down Devía's face, not noticing the glowing amethyst sphere forming faintly around her body and quickly growing in power as Devía's face crumbled with the walls around her. She blindly clutched the pig-tailed girl in her arms as her whole world literally ripped apart, her mind numb, screaming, screaming a million things, _**Merlin oh God Sweet Merlin OH GOD—**_The sky's falling, Dev—_**Holy Merlin, no, Derek, no, come back to me, don't leave me, don't go, come back—_Do you believe in finding real love, Dev? Do you believe?— _Oh, I believe, I believe I **need** you, I need you back, I LOVE YOU, I won't forget you, oh please God, _COME BACK_**_—_

_And then the world went black with a thundering crash of twisted metal and a colossal cloud of dust, and Devía thought no more. _

A/N: As always, please review!!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	20. A Place in the Sun

A/N: Thank you all for your _amazing_ patience! From here until… well actually from here until probably forever, my life is going to be EXTREMELY crazy and hectic so I'm planning on updating once a week, mostly on the weekends, or sometimes I might make multiple updates during the week if I decide to split the chapter up. Forgive me for the randomness, but it will hopefully be well worth the wait! Anyway, as I previously said, thanks to _everyone_ for the great reviews! Rain-Witch, Missing Fairy, Carrie, DJ-Greenleaf, Book Lover990, Wytil, Tamar-Shaki, Twinsies, Shinigami, and Mew-Master-01…. It was great hearing from you! I'm glad you like the story as much as I do! Lady Padfoot-thank you for sharing you experiences with that day with me, I can't even imagine what it would have been like to have actually been as close as you were. I hope the raccoon look went pretty much unnoticed! Don't get buried in by all this snow!

Long ago, far away

I felt your lovin' glow upon my face

Was it a dream or just a promise made

What is my destiny

Someday I'll find a way to shine

Leave all these rainy days behind

I know there's got to be

Some place warm and bright for me

I'm running out of places I can run

Looking for a place in the sun

Darkness hangs overhead

Close to the point where angels fear to tread

I close my eyes and think of you instead

And pray you'll be here soon

Someday I'll find a way to shine

Leave all these rainy days behind

I know there's got to be

Some place warm and bright for me

I'm running out of places I can run

Looking for a place in the sun

Sometimes it feels like this whole world's against me

And every beaten path

Is just another winding road that tempts me

Far from you and all that's true

I've got to find my way again

Someday I'll find a way to shine

Leave all these rainy days behind

I know there's got to be

Some place warm and bright for me

I'm running out of places I can run

Looking for a place in the sun

Yeah I'm running out of places I can run

Looking for a place in the sun

-Time McGraw, _A Place in the Sun_

"Bullshit," Ginny muttered, edging closer to Draco as they walked up the steps of the castle. "He fancies her, just like he fancied her in forth year. She made him smile back in the common room last week."

"Yeah, and she also completely chewed him out Friday. And that means he fancies her?" Draco raised his eyebrows mischievously at her. "Since when did you become such a Potter expert?"

"Since I used to be infatuated with him oh-so-many years ago," Ginny retorted without so much as a hint of a blush, tossing her red hair stubbornly over her shoulder. "And, yes, considering he _never_ smiles, I would have to say that is a definite fancy-indicator."

_Devía fell to Derek's side, gently resting one hand on his face, and touched his lips for the last time, his running roughly against hers, his tongue snaking into her mouth, tasting her tears, she tasting his blood, both of them throwing everything they had left into that last kiss—_**WHY ISN'T IT WORKING? WORK, PLEASE, DEAR LORD, **COME ON_— as something directly above them gave way, and suddenly the neatly printed words scripted on parchment came back like a phantom to haunt her, the seemingly simple words now mocking her_: 'The Kiss of Life and Death is a purely magical entity, to be only effective on witches and wizards…'_ Derek's right hand, so tightly clutching hers, loosened and slipped away, and the little girl was screaming as the rumble grew to a reverberating roar, the entire earth shaking as tears streamed down Devía's face, not noticing the glowing amethyst sphere forming faintly around her body and quickly growing in power as Devía's face crumbled with the walls around her. She blindly clutched the pig-tailed girl in her arms as her whole world literally ripped apart, her mind numb, screaming, screaming a million things, _**Merlin oh God Sweet Merlin OH GOD—**_The sky's falling, Dev—_**Holy Merlin, no, Derek, no, come back to me, don't leave me, don't go, come back—_Do you believe in finding real love, Dev? Do you believe?— _Oh, I believe, I believe I **need** you, I need you back, I LOVE YOU, I won't forget you, oh please God, _COME BACK_**_—_

_And then the world went black with a thundering crash of twisted metal and a colossal cloud of dust, and Devía thought no more. _

**Chapter 11 **

Even though the muted candlelight was dim at best, it still sparkled like it had a year and a half before; shining diamonds and gold reflected like a mirror of memories in Devía's amethyst eyes. Transfixed in its glow, Devía aimlessly rotated the exquisite ring in a circle about two fingers as she idly leaned back in her Defense chair. Why she had refused it let the ring go, why she had stored it right in her desk drawer, she didn't know. But the very sight of the band of gold drew her in to a vacuum of both cheerful and depressing flashbacks from which she could hardly escape.

"Professor Delaveger."

At the deep voice, Devía blinked and crashed back to earth. Twirling the ring once more, she buried it deep into the top drawer and locked it with a SNAP, tilting her head up with a forced but real smile. "Mr. Potter. Quite good of you to come."

Harry ducked into the Defense classroom but hung around the door, as far away from Devía's desk as possible, his dark hair and robes matching the expression on his face. "I didn't exactly have much of a choice."

Devía pulled her hair into a messy ponytail as she lithely rose from her seat. She opened her mouth and took a breath to speak, but at last minute changed direction. "Just be happy I didn't expel you, or worse, give you detention with Filch." **Whoa. I've got to get my priorities straight.**

Her comment didn't lighten Harry's mood, but oddly managed to send him off into one of his brooding spells. **Great. Tonight Alec gets to take Oliver and Tonks into the wonderful world of Muggle TV and Brad Pitt hotness while they watch **Ocean's Eleven**; I get detention with the silent picture**. Devía picked up her deep purple cloak and swung it around her shoulders; despite the abnormally warm January temperatures, any night weather was definitely cold. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me, kid. Let's go."

"_Go_?" The word so jolted Harry from his daze an onlooker would think Devía had suggested they go up to her room and make passionate love. His emerald green eyes stared down at her suspiciously. "Go where?"

"Well, you can't expect me to sit here and watch you nonmagically clean desks for two hours when the probability of Al—Professor Smart crashing the party is almost greater than 100 percent." With a wave, Devía extinguished the few candles lighting the room, grabbed a small lantern that looked like it had seen better days, and swept past Harry into the corridor, motioning for him to follow. "I'm running an errand for Tonks, and I don't feel like taking a nighttime walk in the Forbidden Forest alone."

Harry rolled his back around the doorframe and idly trailed her, his unenthusiastic shuffle clearly indicating he definitely didn't like being there as he said scathingly, "So _I_ have to be the bodyguard of the _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ professor?"

"Not exactly. More like the disposable person I can throw to the monsters hiding in wait in the bushes."

Devía glanced at Harry's indecipherable expression as he fell into step alongside her, her petite figure dwarfed by his tall, strapping silhouette. She glanced again as a small but definite smirk finally emerged on his face. "I don't think I've ever been described quite that way before."

"It's a strange world," Devía countered. **True dat. **She covered her mouth as the lack of light in the dimly lit corridors caused her to yawn, already feeling the night chill bite through her thermal cloak as they neared the courtyard exit. **If only you knew how strange. **"Hopefully tonight will be as uneventful as possible."

"What's so important in the Forbidden Forest that requires you to go out there at night?" Harry asked, shoving his hands deep into his pockets, curiosity in his voice despite himself. After a moment's pause, he added, "When the monsters in the bushes are just waiting for you to come along?"

One of Devía's dark eyebrows shot up, and it took her nearly everything she had to keep her mouth from dropping open in surprise at the trace of cynical humor behind Harry's glasses. Finally, she settled on a laid-back grin. "Oh, Tonks lost a thestral during an invisibility demonstration in one of her Transfiguration classes. She seems to harbor the rather entertaining idea that I have the magical ability to attract them."

"Invisibility lessons. Seems to be all the rage these days."

"I don't need a comment, thank you." Devía shot Harry an annoyed glare, wondering what had happened to the Harry she had known so well, but he merely rolled his head away from her to stare off at the fading remnants of the brilliant red and purple sunset as the entrance doors swung shut behind them. **What is **with** you? **She shook her head and turned her thoughts to the task at hand. From her earlier four years at Hogwarts, she probably knew some areas of the Forbidden Forest better than most people did, but the rest of the world would find her wandering the Forest without a guide rather suspicious. Had Tonks not needed the thestral to finish her lesson, she and Devía would have happily settled on leaving the animal wherever it was, but seeing as Tonks needed it, and Devía didn't have anything else planned for detention, and Tonks had resolutely announced that hell would freeze over before she asked Filch for help—

"Well?"

Harry's voice startled Devía back to reality. **He seems to have a knack for that.** She wrinkled her nose slightly and glanced up at his tall form, pulling her cloak closer as she picked her way around the still-muddy ground. "Well what?"

Harry stared at her as if she had grown another head, any remnant of amusement gone from his frosty emerald eyes. "_Well_, you're the professor; I'd think you'd have an inkling of what you're going to say by now. Aren't you going to launch into a grandiose sermon on the dangers of alcohol and how I'm ruining my health and how, if Umbridge catches me and the press gets wind, my entire education will be completely and entirely wasted? Or were you going to start on how you _could_ have expelled me and leaked my little habit to the press yourself, but haven't? Have you pulled up a contract listing what I owe you to keep it quiet yet?"

**Well, some things don't change.** Either he hardly talks at all, or goes at it for a half hour. Devía bit back a more cutting retort and snapped, "_Well_, with me being the heiress of all that's glittery and golden, I _highly_ doubt I'll need anything that blackmailing you could get me. Nor had I planned on a—and you _did_ put it so refinely—a _grandiose sermon_, since you're legal and it's literally your cup of tea." She sighed, her temper flaring and fading as rapidly as Harry's had, blowing gently into the aged lantern, lighting it, casting a glow on herself and the surrounding area. "Anyway, it would seem you've privy to one before. And I figured I've already told you off enough as it is."

Harry said nothing. Instead, he roughly ran his left hand through his messy dark hair and then shoved it back in his pocket, his right hand closing firmly around his wand as the gloomy, overgrown, murky interior of the Forbidden Forest loomed ahead.

"I can assume you're familiar with the Forbidden Forest?"

"Only the parts I technically shouldn't be familiar with." Harry's eyes met hers, challenging her to say more.

**Calm, Devía. Breathe. Calmness is the key. It kills him when he doesn't get you as upset as he is**. "Weellll, lead on then, and I'll try to restrain myself from docking points at that remark. It might be difficult for me; we teachers have this odd point-mentality complex."

She tilted her head up at him and gave him a relaxed, crooked half-grin, and he stared at her. The confusion in his eyes turned to muted horror as, against his will, the ends of his lips quirked upward into a smile. Devía laughed to herself as he quickly turned away, muttering, "That I believe," pretending to study the best way to dive through the brambles. **Don't lose any sleep over it, Harry; you're just as much of an enigma to me as I am to you.** She followed Harry as he started into the Forbidden Forest, occasionally holding branches out of the way for her in the thicker areas of brush, the dead silence not a bit to Devía's liking.

"Does it seem… a bit quiet to you?" Harry eventually asked warily, all his senses perceptibly on edge as he rigidly made his way forward as the light from the rising moon and the little lantern combined to cast an eerie radiance in the heavily wooded darkness, creating jumping, long shadows at every turn.

"You too, huh?" Once again, Devía was grateful for the mysterious but relatively extensive form of protection her heritage had bestowed her. Her striking amethyst eyes guardedly surveyed the gaping dark hole ahead. "All right, let's take it carefully. I promised Tonks I'd give it an hour in and out, but anything less than that would obviously be more desirable." Devía came up beside Harry and he took the lantern from her hand, brandishing it ahead of them as if it was some sort of impermeable shield.** Yeah, I wish. **

"Can you see thestrals?" Harry inquired in a low voice as they started up again.

"Yes." Devía ignored the surprised flicker in his green eyes and continued before he had a chance to speak, "And the answer to your next question is more people than you can count."

"Yeah." Harry frowned grimly and turned his focus on some nonexistent object in the far distance. "Same here."

"Friends of yours?" Devía asked in both respect and curiosity, remembering the appearances of so many of her classmates that she had hoped to see again when she returned to Hogwarts. Now, though, that was exactly how they would forever remain in her mind. As memories.

Harry studied her, sizing her up, and he finally muttered, "Roughly three-quarters. Otherwise brave people I'll never have the pleasure of meeting." He was momentarily distracted as Devía discreetly shot a jet of light into a menacing vine that had begun to slither out toward her leg. "And…you?"

Devía smiled sadly as more faces ran before her eyes like a side show, many of them powdered white with ash, as if they were already the living dead. "I guess I knew them all, somehow. I felt like I did, anyway. And their faces… those I'll never forget. Not until the day I die."

Harry stopped moving, turned and momentarily stared at her again, his piercing green eyes haunted. "I know what you mean." But the way he spoke left Devía with the impression he was actually saying the opposite: _You_ know what _I_ mean. "Er…" Harry diverted his eyes and held up the lantern, scanning the woods ahead of them and quickly changing the subject. "So, you, er, you and Professor Smart are good friends?"

Devía snorted lightly but still managed to sound dignified. "Alec and me, good friends?" She rolled her eyes as she sidestepped a sketchy-looking bush. "_Hardly_. Really, we're not. He's more like the annoying pest you can _never_ get rid of. _Ever_. And I've bloody tried, believe you me." She shook her head and laughed, her amusement nearly freezing on her lips as a bitterly cold gust of wind sent her tied-back tresses whipping around her face. **Heat wave my **arse. "The whole school naturally assumes we have one of those love-hate relationships with constant lover's spats, am I right?"

Harry made a noise that sounded like a chuckle and nodded in concurrence. "Hannah Abbott'll be pleased when she finds out the opposite is true, though."

"Oh, Lord." Devía groaned, choking back a laugh but keeping her eyes sharp on the forest. "_Never_ let _him_ hear about that, all he needs is one little picnic basket and blanket and everything she's waited for'll be all ove—Ssssh," Devía said in soft undertone, freezing so quickly Harry ran into her. He leapt away as if she was on fire, nodded and turned so he was facing the opposite direction she was. She narrowed her eyes as, with a soft _whoosh_, the lantern's light extinguished.

"See any thestrals yet?" Harry asked sardonically, blinking in the abrupt, utter darkness.

Devía's acute vision caught sight of it first. "_Harry_," she hissed over her shoulder, nudging him in the back with her elbow and pointing to the northern sky, barely visible through the treetops. "See that….right there…."

Harry squinted at the brightening light as it flitted lightly in and out among the branches. "What _is_ that?"

Devía frowned as the light rolled around above them, taking on a slightly bluish tint and forming an iridescent, translucent sphere— "_Wait_. I've _read_ about these."

**Ooooo Devía, you messed that up. **The second the words left her mouth Devía realized how much she had sounded like Hermione. **Maybe he won't make the connection.** Harry's sharp intake of break, however, only confirmed her thoughts.** Well, that screws that. Better to play innocent.** "You okay?"

"Er… yeah." Harry's shrewd eyes calculatingly studied her concerned features in the soft blue glow. "You just… sounded like someone I used to know."

**Whew. **"Hmm, well, okay, but….if I were you, and you were me, we'd both start moving backwards very slowly right about now."

Harry forced another dry chuckle and he and Devía warily took a step backward, his attention once again directed at the floating blue ball. "Why would we being this?"

"It detects movement; it's attracted to it. '_It_' being one of twelve magical spheres—extremely original name, I know. Exceptionally rare as well, they're almost never found in populated areas. Their discoveries were completely accidental. Each a different color, each a different function." Devía carefully sidestepped a thorny thicket of vines. "This one, light blue, is, hmmm… is a memory sphere."

"And…what exactly does a memory sphere do?" Harry asked, his tone clearly indicating he didn't really want to hear her answer.

"Oh, you know, the usual—makes you relive your second best and worst memories. It doesn't have quite the magical prowess to bring back the number ones, but what can you do?" Devía muttered softly as the two continued to back up shoulder to shoulder.

"Well. Bugger."

"Yeah, it's all butterflies and rainbows, I know. Doesn't seem to be getting any farther away either, does it?"

"Is that bad?"

"Only if it sees us. There's no direct counter spell to its effects. You just have to tough it out—_Watch it_!" Devía yanked Harry out of the way as the dark, towering outline of a horse galloped by them, snapping underbrush and anything else in its way as it spread its two enormous wings. As Devía and Harry crashed out of the thestral's path together, Devía eye's caught sight of a shimmering flash of blue. **In the words of Harry: Well, bugger**.

Devía's body felt as if it had been pushed through a wall when she landed on the ground with a bang, a hollow suction in her ear giving her the feeling of falling through a vacuum. Cautiously opening her violet eyes, fully expecting to see more flashbacks of 9/11, Devía gawked at her surroundings in surprise when she didn't see anything she recognized. Surprise and fascination. **Whoa, this is **so** not mine.**

A/N: As always, reviews, questions, comments are welcome!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	21. The Last Minute

A/N: Rain-witch: Thanks for the advice again, and I definitely plan to keep going. Tamar, as always, the positive response is absolutely wonderful. Twinsies:I apologize if it'sdriving you crazy, but you have to be patient! Like I said before, Harry not knowing that she's Hermione is really important to the relationship. He _will_ find out, but not for a while. Oh, yeah, did I mention that this story is more than slightly AU?

How the hell'd we wind up like this

And why weren't we able

To see the signs that we missed

And try to turn the tables

I wish you'd unclench your fists

And unpack your suitcase

Lately there's been too much of this

But don't think it's too late

Nothing's wrong

Just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

Well I'd hope that since we're here anyway

That we could end up saying

Things we've always needed to say

So we could end up staying

Now the story's played out like this

Just like a paperback novel

Let's rewrite an ending that fits

Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong

Just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that

Someday somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that...

How the hell'd we wind up like this

And why weren't we able

To see the signs that we missed

And try to turn the tables

Now the story's played out like this

Just like a paperback novel

Let's rewrite an ending that fits

Instead of a Hollywood horror

Nothing's wrong

Just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that

Someday somehow

I'm gonna make it alright

But not right now

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that

I know you're wondering when

You're the only one who knows that

I know you're wondering when

Nickelback, _Someday_

_  
_**Last time**: _"Is that bad?" _

"_Only if it sees us. There's no direct counterspell to its effects. You just have to tough it out—Watch it!" Devía yanked Harry out of the way as the dark, towering outline of a horse galloped by them, snapping underbrush and anything else in its way as it spread its two enormous wings. As Devía and Harry crashed out of the thestral's path together, Devía eye's caught sight of a shimmering flash of blue_**. In the words of Harry: Well, bugger. **

_Devía's body felt as if it had been pushed through a wall when she landed on the ground with a bang, a hollow suction in her ear giving her the feeling of falling through a vacuum. Cautiously opening her violet eyes, fully expecting to see more flashbacks of 9/11, Devía gawked at her surroundings in surprise when she didn't see anything she recognized. Surprise and fascination._ **Whoa, this is **so** not mine.**

**Aaaahhh, filth!** Devía almost staggered backward as the overflowing, chaotic dorm room met her eyes, light streaming in through the windows. Chudley Cannons Quiddich posters plastered on the walls; trash, balled-up scrap papers, and an entire pile of half-open, sprawled out schoolbooks littered the floor. **Sacrilege! How could anyone **live** here? **Socks, shirts, and any other form of clothing tossed carelessly into a half-open bureau drawer told Devía that this definitely wasn't a girl's dorm. Something about the room seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was….

Hearing upraised voices coming from behind the closed bathroom door, Devía smirked and wandered over to the only inhabitable bed, neatly made and free of random clutter. She bounced down on it, still not having the slightest inkling where exactly she was. Her attention was drawn to the picture frame on the stand nearest the bed. Curiously tilting her head sideways for a better view, Devía's mouth fell open as the recognizable photo of Harry's parents came into focus. **_Bloody hell_. Damn it, I swore.** She sucked in a quick breath. Could it possibly be…She was seeing Harry's second best and worst memories? And he was seeing _hers_?

There was no doubt about it. This was turning out to be an _Oh, shit! _day.

"_Hey, you're coming, aren't you?" _

_The bathroom door flew open with a BANG, and Devía watched as Harry, a much younger Harry, came out, followed closely by a freckled, adolescent Ron, rubbing his wet hair with a towel. Ron was shaking his head forlornly, a scowl on his face as he irritably chucked the towel back into the bathroom. "Nope, mate. While you were in the hospital wing, I got the double detention from Snape on a Hogsmeade Saturday, out of all the bloody days in the year, can you believe that git?"_

Devía interestedly leaned back against the head of what was obviously Harry's bed, completely content with studying teenage boys in their natural habitat, as Harry grimaced, digging through his trunk until he emerged with a cloak. _"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past him." He began to lower the trunk's top, but paused midway and looked up at Ron. "Listen, are you sure you wouldn't want me to stay and, I don't know, help you or something?"_

**Ah, Harry, always the loyal friend.**

"_Are you barking mad?" Ron laughed shortly and shook his head, the annoyed expression vanishing into a rather forced smile considering his fate with Snape. "He already hates you as it is, and you've already had a hell of a time with that stupid Tournament—" **Hmm, must be after they made up **"—No, mate, you and Hermione go. Have fun. Give Malfoy a good kick in the arse for me if you see him. Relax. Merlin knows you need to. Don't make me regret that I got detention."  
_

**Him and me?** Now Devía was beyond hooked, and she stealthily rose and followed Harry as he exited the room and made his way to the Gryffindor common room. _She_ was in Harry's _second_ best memory? _She frowned as her 4th year Hermione self lounged casually in the common room, oblivious as Harry approached her on the right, surreptitiously reached behind her, and tapped her left shoulder. Immediately, she swung her head to the left, wildly looking around for the intrusive tapper. Seeing no one, she turned to the right to find Harry standing there innocently, hands in his pockets. "Har-ry!" she exclaimed, lightly shoving his shoulder, and he laughed, dancing away from her. She shook her head, grinning in spite of herself. "Ready?" _

Devía watched the whole exchange curiously. **Okay, it's been five years; he should have had a lot more exciting memories by now… **_"Poor Ron—the whole afternoon with Snape, can you imagine—No, wait, I take that back, you probably can." Hermione smiled sympathetically at Ron, and he unhappily waved goodbye and glanced mournfully at his watch, pale, as she and Harry exited the portrait hole._

Smiling, Devía thought back to that afternoon. She remembered it well, right after Harry's second task. It was probably one of the best Hogsmeade trips she ever took, considering Ron wasn't there to complete the Golden Trio. Since Hogwarts was hosting the Triwizard Tournament, Hogsmeade had set up an extensive fair of sorts for the visiting students and spectators, with all kinds of vendors and stands lining the streets, incredible ongoing sales in the stores, and tantalizing smells of exotic food, potions, or perfume constantly wafting through the air.

Devía followed herself and Harry through the adventures they had that day. _Chatting it up for at least an hour with some entertaining Beaubaxtons students at the Three Broomsticks and laughing until they cried when Draco Malfoy and his entourage made complete idiots of themselves while having a go at the magical karaoke contest the pub had set up—"Five galleons says the numbskulls'll win. Do I hear six, anyone?" "_Professor Moody_? You're _betting_ on them?" "We professors have our own simple forms of entertainment, Ms. Granger."—; Harry charming a random merchant—completely entranced that THE Harry Potter was talking to her—to such an extent that the salesgirl sent Harry and her away laden with every kind of practical joke device and sweet, causing even Fred and George to drool over them—"Hermione, you're looking utterly, positively smashing today—" "Absolutely, completely amazing—" "Might the little lady need some chivalrous assistance from a few dashing rogues with a few of those extremely fascinating bags she's _struggling_ to carry?" "Rogues is right, just tell me what you want, you two, and I'll tell you how to get along without it—"; Harry—after nearly an hour of pleading and persuasion—taking her up on a Firebolt after the owner of the local Quiddich supply store offered him a year's worth of Quiddich cleaning equipment. "Just a quick jaunt up and down, Mione! Quick!" "Harry, there is nothing even remotely quick where you and a broom are concerned except you jumping on it. No. _No_! I won't do it!"_

_She had finally relented, though, after Harry admitted he owed Ron big for something, although Harry refused to tell her exactly what it was he had done. Of course, now that Devía thought about it, she didn't know exactly why she had to go up with Harry, but in the end it really didn't matter; she had stiffened up the moment the broom left the ground and clutched Harry in terror like he was the only thing keeping her from falling into hell—"You're going far too fast, Harry, too fast! Harry? _Harrrrry_! Slow down, slow down, SLOW DOWN!"— but after some rather stressful moments and an anti-hyperventilating spell, she had become completely exhilarated, even squealing in delight as Harry went into a steep dive. _

The day faded quickly, though, as Harry's memories swirled from one event to another, and soon Devía followed behind as she and Harry trudged, exhausted and weighed down with at least thirteen bulking sacks, back up to the Fat Lady's portrait, looking as if they were about to embark on some great and epic expedition. _She was giggling at some remark Harry had made in her ear, and she promptly dropped every bag on the ground when she finally reached the last step, gasping for air and fanning herself. Harry did the same, and she gave him a tired but sparkling smile. "Harry, I just had the most incredible time."_

"_I did too, Mione." He grinned, his emerald eyes quickly meeting her violet speckled brown ones before dropping to the ground and studying an imaginary smudge on the stone floor. "I haven't had that much fun in a while." So much enthusiasm was radiating off her, she seemed to glow, her cheeks an attractive red from a mix of high spirits, the outside cold, and walking up a seemingly endless flight of stairs with fifty pounds of souvenirs. He glanced back up at her, a mischievous expression playing on his face. "Even the broom ride?"_

"_No, I must admit, that was such a positively _awful_ experience, we might have to do it again sometime," she teased, a soft smile spreading across her face. "You know what, Harry?" She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and gave Harry a light, friendly peck on the cheek. "Thanks for a _great_ day." She returned to her level and, with a wave of her wand, lifted all of her packages into the air, tapping the Fat Lady. "The Lion's Den." As the portrait slid open, she turned back to Harry, who hadn't really moved much since she had made contact with his face. "I'll see you at dinner, alright? We have to find out how bad Ron's detention was before we split all this stuff up with him!"_

_He nodded with a feeble grin as she hustled, apparently unaffected by his silence, into the Gryffindor Common Room, both her past and present counterpart oblivious as Harry gazed longingly after her. _Devía frowned as her fourteen year old self disappeared from sight. It wasn't that anything was out of the ordinary. In fact, everything was _exactly_ as she would have remembered it had she watched the entire afternoon from her point of view.

And yet, somehow, that day was extremely special to _the_ Harry Potter. As Oliver had put it a few nights before, Harry was the nineteen year old no one could completely get through to.

Things were beginning to get strange. **Beginning?** When Devía had left Hogwarts all those years ago, she had never considered to possibility of how her departure would affect her old friends. Did it upset them more than she had thought it would? **Did I ever even really consider how they would feel if I left?**

Before Devía could dwell on it, however, Harry's memories whirled again, and her heart fell to her stomach as she found her self in an all too familiar-looking, damp field filled with thick fog, dead weeds, and yellowed knee-high grass. _Ominous dark gray clouds swirled overhead, giving the meadow an eerie glow. As if to amplify the creepiness, sounds of battle sounded in the not-so-far distance_. **Really, though, what else did I expect to see in one of his worst memories?** In fact…after she prowled around to the far edge of the field, over a bluff, Devía could see her seventeen year old self spit out a mouthful of dirt and slowly push herself to a sitting position, warily observing her surroundings with wide amethyst eyes.

Yes, Devía knew this memory of Harry's as well. Not that she wanted to witness all the blood and gore again. Devía was actually tempted to sit down at the top of the hill in spectator fashion and watch the last battle play out, as she basically had done before, when a thought that had been nagging at the back of her mind for two years once again surfaced. **What the hell.** Devía tucked a fallen lock of hair behind her ear and cautiously moved as close to Voldemort's towering, daunting form as she could get, studying him very closely in his last minute of battle. As Devía stared calculatingly into his red, snakelike eyes, as waves of power rolled off him like tsunamis, there was no doubt in her mind that this man was not only lethal, he was extremely, extremely intelligent. **Bad combination. Bad, bad, bad.**

"—_weak, Potter, and now I can finally get you out of the way."_

"…_you…first…"_

"_Vicara."_

"_Avada KEDAVRA!"_

That damn fog again choked her line of view, but Devía determinedly narrowed her amethyst eyes, focusing on Voldemort's outline with laser-like precision as the green jet of light sped closer to its intended target. She was _not_ going to lose him, not this time. _A faint shimmer, a muffled _crack!_ at the same time Harry fell to the ground_…. **Mother of Merlin**

Devía felt fury like none other pulse through her veins, and she stumbled backward through the mist, seeing red blots block some of her vision, her face the reflection of utter shock and pure rage at what she had just witnessed.

Voldemort may have been able to pull the wool down over the entire wizarding world's eyes, but he could hide nothing from Devía Delaveger.

And Devía had seen as, a spirit's breath before the killing curse reached him, an evil smile flickered across Voldemort's malevolent, terrifying face, and with a _crack_ he vanished in a shimmer of power.

A/N: As always, reviews, questions, comments are welcome! Your reviews are great, they totally keep me going!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	22. I'm With You

A/N: This chapter is probably my deepest—deep as a well!—and it also shows a darker side of Devia.

I'm standing on the bridge  
I'm waiting in the dark  
I thought that you'd be here by now  
There's nothing but the rain  
No footsteps on the ground  
I'm listening, but there's no sound

Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home

It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you, take me by the hand, take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you  
I'm with you

I'm looking for a place  
I'm searching for a face  
Is anybody here I know  
Cause nothing's going right and  
Everything's a mess  
And no one likes to be alone

Isn't anyone trying to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home

It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you, take me by the hand, take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you  
I'm with you

Oh, why is everything so confusing  
Maybe I'm just out of my mind  
Yeah

It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you, take me by the hand, take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you  
I'm with you

Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you  
I'm with you

Take me by the hand, take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are but I, I'm with you  
I'm with you  
I'm with you

-Avril Lavigne, _I'm With You  
_

**Last time:** _Devía felt fury like none other pulse through her veins, and she stumbled backward through the mist, seeing red blots block some of her vision, her face the reflection of utter shock and pure rage at what she had just witnessed. _

_Voldemort may have been able to pull the wool down over the entire wizarding world's eyes, but he could hide nothing from Devía Delaveger. _

_And Devía had seen as, a spirit's breath before the killing curse reached him, an evil smile flickered across Voldemort's malevolent, terrifying face, and with a crack he vanished in a shimmer of power._

**Chapter 12**

Devía's eyes flew open wildly as she came to in the dark woods, the Memory Sphere and its blue glow no longer visible. As she slammed into the ground, she gulped in a huge breath of cold air like she had finally surfaced after nearly drowning, still in a half-stunned stupor at the scene she had just witnessed. There Voldemort had stood, and there he had Apparated away. Still very much alive.

And yet the entire world remained in the dark.

**That **sneaky** son of a bitch! **

A sharp intake of breath from her right, though, rudely shoved Devía's thoughts back to her present situation. Seeing a pair of familiar-looking glasses half-buried in a patch of dead grass, she picked them up, absently running a slender finger around their round rims as she tilted her head over at Harry, the darker Harry of this day and age. He came to with a violent shudder, his emerald eyes flying open and a deep gasp very similar to hers escaping his lips.

**Oh, lucky him, he got 9/11 instead. Well, it could have been worse, I suppose. **

**Haha, yeah, worse, he could have been in hell itself.**

He sat sprawled out on the ground beside her, his elbows on his knees, his hands on his head, and his head between his knees, breathing hard, not yet completely reaccustomed with his surroundings, and Devía was actually appreciative for the freezing cold northern wind that had hardened the previously muddy and thoroughly disgusting dirt somewhat. After counting to seven, Devía asked with a small smirk, "Did you see any thestrals flying around that stairwell?"

Harry jerked bolt upright in complete surprise, as if he had just realized she was right beside him, not replying. His back had stiffened almost instinctively as he blinked, squinting his still-glazed eyes and trying to find some clear focus with his poor vision. Devía held out his glasses, and he wordlessly plucked them from her hand, placing them on his nose, still silent. Devía began lightly drum her fingers on the ground, her mind bogged down with far too many revelations to be patient. She knew he was typically withdrawn, but _honestly_, this was borderline recluse! A deafening silence had begun to build up in her ears, one not even interrupted by a whisper of the wind, when Harry asked in a slightly strangled voice, "That… That was your _second_ worst memory?"

**I **told** you you're not the only one to have seen his nightmare and lived to tell about it. **Devía raised her eyebrows and glanced at him, barely able to see much except the pale, defined contours of his face and the faint reflection of the moonlight off his glasses while the brightly glowing orb intermittently dipped in and out of dark clouds overhead."Want me to give you all the ghastly details of the first?"

His emerald green eyes bored down at her as if he was actually seeing her for the first time. Slowly, though, his eyes narrowed and lost their focus on her face, thoughtfully shifting back and forth behind his glasses and giving Devía the impression he was running through appropriate responses to her remark. "I…" Harry hovered around the word before him finished the sentence. "I'm sorry."

Devía smiled briefly in his direction. "Likewise, I suppose, for… for you having to go through what you went through." And she did sincerely feel for him. No one should have to go through that kind of trauma. Devía smirked bitterly at the reality of the naïve wish. **Yeah, right. Welcome to earth, everyone.**

"It wasn't much," Harry muttered, shifting uncomfortably on the ground, the wall behind which he had buried his haunting thoughts shattered by a woman he shouldn't have known, couldn't have know, but felt like he had known forever. "I assume you saw the final battle, then."

**Way to deduce that one.** "Yeah." The monologue couldn't have been more awkward or dark if it wanted to be. Just then, however, a thought struck Devía, and a wicked grin spread across her face in spite of herself, her heavy mood lifting slightly. "Don't worry, there was nothing _extremely_ embarrassing in either of yours."

Devía could just make out a faint flush rise up in Harry's face, her comment catching him off guard. "Er…well…" he stuttered, futilely searching for the most tactful words, "In yours, there were a few, you know…" The look on his face had quickly become a cross of seeming about ready to kick himself and anger at his sudden lack of verbal control.There was only one topic Devía knew of that could leave Harry in such a self-conscious state. **Loyalty was never a problem for you, Harry. You would risk anything to protect, to give it all for your friends, but you were always bad at two things. One was accepting constructive criticism when all we wanted to do was help you, and the other one was fully understanding and dealing with— **"Love," Harry finally said simply, repeating the last word Devía had said to Derek, to her beloved Derek, before….

Before the sky fell on them both.

Devía shrugged, her mood plummeting again, choosing to stare at her wand, twirling the willowy, etched, shiny mahogany around her fingers idly. "Yeah." She paused, wondering whether she should continue. "But everybody knew I loved him and he loved me; it wasn't exactly a secret and it was never private," A ghost of an ironical grin drifted across her face, and she said delicately, "until the end."

Harry sat wordlessly, and Devía could feel that damn silence build up again, rolling into her ears like hollow, rhythmically pounding ocean waves. Harry, drawn up into his little world, the expression on his face akin to one he would sport had he been considering the most difficult question on the NEWT Potions final exam, was of no help whatsoever. She was quite seriously about to scream from pure annoyance when Harry spoke in an unusually unstable tone, initiating the direction of the conversation for the second time that night. **Some kind of record there.** "Pro—" He hesitated, his voice catching indecisively before he decided to carry on. "Professor?"

Devía sensed Harry was beginning to relax. It was only the slightest of instincts, but she jumped at the chance to dig out some remnant of the Harry she remembered. He was still in there, somewhere; she had see a glimpse of him occasionally, but both of their experiences had changed them so incredibly much, they could never really be the same again… Still, she could try. She owed him that much. A tired but genuine smile found its way to her face. "Harry, you've just seen two of my most personal memories. Call me Devía. Being called _Professor_ by someone my age, after hours, is still probably one of the strangest, creepiest things I have _ever_ heard… and I have had my share of strange and creepy…" she mused, her overcast amethyst eyes slowly mellowing as she gazed at a random, distant outline of a clump of gnarled trees, her chin resting on her bent knees. "You can be honest with me, you know, after what we've both seen. In this crazy world of liars and cheats and bad guys and good guys and God knows who else, you can talk to me." A wry grin twisted on her face. "That is, if you're willing to accept help from a _professor_."

Devía heard a rustle beside her, and cocked her head to the right slightly, watching as Harry pulled his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms and cloak tightly around them, dull emerald eyes staring straight into the shadowy depths of the Forbidden Forest. "You know, it's funny, really," he began, his voice completely devoid of any amusement despite his previous statement, "I don't think anyone's been absolutely, _completely_ honest with me in my entire life."

"That's a bummer." Devía's eyes crinkled up, remembering Harry's regular battles with Dumbledore over that very issue. "I wish that would happen to me. Whenever my friends and I would go shopping, and I'd try something on, they'd be _brutally_ honest."

The faint smile that momentarily slipped on Harry's face was what Devía had been aiming for. He took another breath, sighing heavily, studying the details of the dirt in the patches of moonlight. "You seem so happy," he said quietly. Devía wasn't sure whether it was a statement or an introduction until he continued frankly in a low voice, "How can you be? After, after that… what did they call it?"

"Nine-Eleven," Devía replied flatly, knowing exactly what he was referring to without needing any details.

"9/11," Harry repeated, his previously confident voice wavering now, more uncertain than he had ever been. "How can you be happy after something like that happened to you? I mean, when the people you cared about died like that… When you tried so hard to save them, and—and you couldn't…" He shoved a hand through his dark hair in frustration and Devía was beginning to get a sense that he wasn't just talking about her anymore. "How can you ever be happy again?"

Devía's bright amethyst eyes glanced sharply toward Harry, but he kept his head facing straight ahead, his jaw set, the steady, bated rise and fall of his chest the only part of him that she could see moving. Devía frowned and picked over her response to his genuinely confused voice. She _had_ said she would be completely honest with him… "Oh, don't think I just accepted it, because I didn't." Another burst of faint light from above and Devía once again found the now-recognizable narrow cluster of trees. "A part of me felt dead, okay, _hollow_, like I couldn't ever function right again, and I… I think it still feels that way," she finished heavily. "I kept expecting to see him again, you know? Whenever I went out dancing, whenever I heard our songs, whenever I saw the back of any six-foot-two blond guy at the mall—It was like he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and…. he never came."

From Harry's aloof position and indifferent expression, someone who didn't know him would think he was miles away from hearing the words Devía was saying. But Devía knew him, or _used_ to, to say the least, and she saw his head tilting toward her voice ever so slightly throughout her entire description; she heard him murmur, more to himself than to her, "They never do."

"No, they don't." Devía uncurled herself and stretched, scooting backward a little until her back found the nearest tree trunk. She leaned against it and wrinkled her nose thoughtfully, the moonlight illuminating her lovely heart-shaped face and shining like a halo off her apple-cinnamon tresses, by now completely fallen from the ponytail holder and loosely framing her face. "The thing was, though, right after his funeral, I stopped being sad. Just like that." She snapped her fingers simultaneously. "Instead, I got mad. Oh, I was _furious_. Like, I was ready to kill whoever was responsible for that _hellish_ day."

Harry actually glanced over at her in surprise.

"Maybe it was just my way of coping, I don't know." A ghostly, vengeful expression that Devía hardly ever allowed escape found its way onto her face. "Had I been eligible to join the U.S. Military, I would have. I would have found them and I would have killed them all, and I would never have felt guilty about it. Never. I know, I know what you're thinking, too: _She wouldn't _understand_ what it feels like after you kill someone_ and all that rot, but listen. It's called justice and they deserved to get served, whether by my hand or another's." The look so alien to her countenance vanished as quickly as it had come, though, and the lighthearted glimmer that always seemed to sparkle with hope returned to her Delaveger eyes. "It's been a year and a half, guess I kind of moved on, you know? But I'm not over him; I'm not over any of them. People can say what they want, and maybe in their dream world they can forget, but in all reality? You never get over it."

The silence that now filled the small, moonlit thicket where Devía and Harry sat, each lost in their separate thoughts, had lost some of its coldness. Not that Devía liked it any better. Harry, however, bit his lip in decision before he said softly, "That's exactly how I felt, _exactly_, when my godfather was murdered. I… I saw it happen, just like…" he trailed off painfully, but Devía felt as if Buckbeak had just kicked her in the stomach.

The gaunt, tired, but playful face of Sirius Black shot into her mind as if she had just seen him the day before, talking, laughing, trash-talking Snivellus. **Oh dear Lord, I've missed a lot.** Trying to keep the swirl of shock, grief, and regret running amuck in her head from escaping into her voice, Devía managed a strangled, "I'm…I'm sorry, Harry."

Harry nodded stiffly, too troubled with his own memories to notice her reaction, and went on in an impassive tone devoid of any kind of emotion. "He was dueling Bellatrix Black, when she murdered him. She was a Death Eater, and she was pure evil. I wanted to kill her; I don't think I've ever wanted anything as much as I wanted to kill her then. She didn't—doesn't—deserve to live. But I couldn't, I wasn't strong enough…" A heavy curtain of guilt bubbled into his voice. "It was my fault Sirius was there in the first place, if I hadn't been so _stupid_ …" He savagely stabbed his wand at the ground as if Bellatrix Black's face was somehow buried just beneath, and Devía could see now, as Sirius's murder replayed in Harry's mind, that much of the tight control Harry held over his emotions was rapidly spiraling away from him. **The firewhiskey effect without the firewhiskey. **His eyes took on a slightly glazed appearance as he stared at some unseen shape straight ahead in the darkness, and he whispered faintly, "Good Merlin, Sirius, everything just went… _so_ wrong…" as if his godfather was actually standing right before him.

"I know what that feels like," Devía muttered, shifting so she was on her knees right next to him, his dejected form eerily bringing back a sense of deja vu with the night she saw him in the Astronomy Tower, with his dark head hanging down as if a weight was attached to it, his arm hanging limply, resting on his bent knees, a wand dangling from his hand rather than a glass bottle. "Harry. From what I can tell, whatever happened that day _can't_ have been entirely your fault, just like I've never even considered blaming Derek for suggesting we go to the World Trade Center on a Tuesday morning. What happened happened, and you can't change it now. _Look_ at me, Harry. _Harry_. Do you even _hear_ me?"

Harry's piercing emerald gaze wavered as his eyes locked on her brilliant violet ones, brilliant and bottomless and now filled with depths of compassion, and he nodded mutely.

"Trust me, I know how hard it is—it's hell, alright—but… something one of the closest people to me in the _world_ told me, in my worst memory, they told me, the last words they ever said, 'Devía_, live _for_ us_.' I had never thought like that before. I had always asked myself, **_Why_? **_Why, _God_, **why** _did I get to live when so many other people who deserved life just as much as I did died? I _wanted_ to die with them…" Devía's earnest voice caught and she trailed off, her eyes strangely distant though they still stared into Harry's widening green ones. "I never thought they would _want_, no, that I would _owe_ it to them to live even more _now_ than I had before, to live their lives for _them_ as well as for _me_. And….and I swore that I would. _They_ may have left, Harry, but _we_ haven't gone yet, we have no reason to walk around acting like we have. We _can't_. We have so much left to do, to try, to fail, to succeed, to _live_."

Devía caught her breath, hoping to God that he had absorbed, even took to heart at least a _part_ of what she had said. Harry's eyes had not yet left her face; in fact, those eyes, eyes that had displayed a surprisingly large range of sentiments since the their conversation had begun—rage, surprise, sorrow, disappointment, shock, confusion, guilt, shame, acceptance, and even fear— , hadn't once strayed away. Devía even thought, for just a moment, she saw a waver, a swirl, a tremor, and a shimmer of an emotion she had never yet witnessed Harry release, but he blinked back any chance of her seeing it now. "Thank you," he finally whispered gratefully, in a voice choked full with enough emotion to make up for the times she had seen him completely apathetic since her return to Hogwarts. "You… you understand."

"Didn't I tell you there's always someone out there who's felt what you're feeling?" Devía asked wisely, leaning comfortably back against the tree again. Her thoughts were still swirling; she had _never_ expected Harry to share that much, especially with someone he hardly knew. Actually, she hadn't really expected much of a response from Harry at all.

Proof, once again, that she wasn't always right.

"There's always someone who understands."

Harry smiled slightly, his eyes deep into some far-away memory as he released the deep breath he had been holding, tilting his head back toward the stars is the clear, inky black night sky. "An old, good friend of mine used to say that. You remind me of her…very much."

Devía raised an eyebrow as she stared forward into the moonlit forest, her heartbeat speeding up. **He can't know… can he? **"Her name wouldn't happen to be Hermione —Mione, if you prefer—, would it?"

Harry choked; Devía quickly glanced at him, concerned, as he asked, "H…_How_—"

**Thank Merlin, he doesn't know. **"Whoa there, don't have a cow."Devía's relief was evident in her lighthearted laugh. "Your better memory involved her slightly." Surreptitiously eying him for his reaction, she expertly hid a twinge of confusion as a pale pink tinge rose to his cheeks. "Just kidding, it kind of involved her a lot."

She and Harry chuckled as she sprung lithely to her feet, her amethyst eyes darting briefly toward the moon. "Two hours and we still didn't find that damn thestral; it just managed to run us over." She groaned as he jumped up beside her. "Tonks is going to _kill_ me."

Harry fished the still-extinguished lantern from a nearby patch of bushes, his step strangely lighter than it had been when he walked into the Defense classroom that night. "Nah, he would never do that; you're too lovable."

Devía almost passed out in shock. **Harry Potter, you never cease to amaze me.** Harry didn't seem nonplussed as his lighthearted comment, however. In fact, he seemed _friendly_. Warm. A completely different person.

**Almost like the Harry I remember**.

Devía couldn't hide the smile that lit up her face so that it rivaled the gleaming moon itself. "Yeah? Tell me that the next time you get a questionable paper."

"Me? Get a questionable mark in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry grinned cheekily at her as the two plunged back through the Forbidden Forest. Somehow, the dark shadows and the strange, unnatural silence didn't seem as foreboding as they had before. "Snape would let _me_ call him Sev before that happens."

"Ummmm-_hmmmm_, and _modest_, too…" Devía mused in mock appraisal, feeling like throwing her hands in the air and sending a prayer of thanks to the Magical Sphere gods, with a thestral dance thrown in for good measure.

A rare laugh escaped Harry's lips while his wand sent a tiny spark into the lantern, and he shook his head as the woods crackled with warm firelight again. "If you weren't our age, this—" he gestured aimlessly, throwing his arm out in a broad arc "—this whole thing would seem so strange."

Devía caught his drift and nodded. "I know, it's odd for me, too."

Harry held the lantern out in front of him, shoving his free hand past his cloak and into his pocket. "You know, for a professor, you're really not so bad."

Letting out a tiny snort, Devía rolled her eyes over at him. "Well, let me be the first to _thank_ you."

He chucked, pausing to run his thumb nervously over the lantern handle. The heavy underbrush and steady tangle of thorns had begun to thin out, and Devía could almost sense the fresh air from the clearing up ahead. "Er…Can I ask you something?"

"Um, shoot." Devía cocked her ear at a sharp _crack_! and rustling from a nearby, barren tree, its stripped branches blowing slightly in the small breeze, but she grinned as a squirrel darted past them**. Finally, a normal animal**.

Harry studied the ground as they walked along, the lantern clanking softly against his side. "When you saw the final battle…" He trailed off, appearing to search for the appropriate words. "When you saw the final battle, did you see what happened after…after I passed out?"

**Ooooo, tricky, Harry. Very tricky**. Devía narrowed her eyes, pretending to go over his memory again, actually trying to figure out how she could answer him without completely lying. "No…." she eventually said apologetically. "I was so preoccupied with staring at the snake-eyed monster, I didn't notice much of anything else." Devía could help but add curiously, "Why?"

"Er…." Harry's green eyes glanced at her calculatingly, as if deciding exactly what to tell her, and Devía was left with the strange feeling she had just been placed under a laser scan. "Well, I… I don't remember much of it, but I _do_ remember getting hit with a _Vicara_."

"Ouch." Even now, Devía winced at the thought of it. "Nasty thing there."

"Yeah," Harry agreed quietly, involuntarily reaching a hand halfway to his throat before he pulled it back down and continued, "I was—well, you saw the field we were in. Nobody was around. But, after it was all over, the Light found me about a quarter mile closer to them. They thought I had shot up sparks for help, but I _know_ I didn't—or, at least, I don't remember…" Harry ran a hand through has messy dark hair in frustration. "Anyhow, all the effects of the Vicara were completely gone. The Healers didn't understand it; hell, _I_ didn't understand it…"

"Wow." Devía nodded her head as he finished, sliding easily into the role of professor. "That's really advanced healing."

"I know. And I didn't do it to myself, I'm sure of it. All I have left, the only clue I have, is this scar…" Harry tugged on his collar, revealing the pale, miniature delta contrasting sharply against his skin. **Best he never see the Delaveger crest.** "What do you think?"

"Well…" Devía delicately picked over her words, deciding that an open-ended answer was her best option. "Whoever gave you that was obviously extremely powerful. They also must have had good intentions, since they didn't take advantage of the situation and kill you. There were a lot of people there, Harry. Another Light fighter could have been watching, or have you even considered a renegade Death Eater?"

Harry shrugged as the Forbidden Forest abruptly came to a stop, spitting them out into a mist-choked field, the spires of Hogwarts jutting into the nearby night sky. Devía couldn't help but sigh in relief as sound seemed to return again, the wind rustling, a bird chirping out every now and then, the hoot of an owl, the occasional burst of faraway laughter from the lit windows of Hogwarts. "I know, it could have been anyone." He heaved a sigh. "I really wish I did, though, so I could at least thank her properly—As if I'm good at that, anyway."

Devía's ear perked to the left, and, to her dismay, the unwanted but familiar speeding up of the heart started up again. "_Her_?"

"Er….yeah." Harry's steps quickened, and he hurried forward rather determinedly as they came nearer the enormous castle. "It was a girl, I remember her voice a bit, I think…She said…." Harry's low voice trailed off, and he shook his head. "I don't know."

Devía hoped her violet eyes gave away nothing of the apprehension she was feeling, and the only thing she could finally manage was a "Hmmmmm."

As if the fates had smiled down on her, Harry grinned suddenly and changed the subject as they made it back into the courtyard. "I liked your good memory."

The worry floated from Devía's body, and her eyes crinkled up, shining, as she smiled. "Oh, yeah? Which one was it?"

""Er…" Harry hesitated, cupping his hand behind the lantern wick and blowing it out, the gaping quad door closing behind them. The damp corridor, lit with soft torchlight, was a welcome sight after their great outdoor adventure. Almost shyly, he placed the handle back in her hand. "It involved listening to a radio and dancing around a bonfire."

**Yeah, among other things. **"Oh, yes! Yeah, those were some fun times. _Fun_ times." Devía cocked her head at him mischievously. "Have _you_ ever danced around a bonfire, Harry?"

"No, no, I can't say that I have." Devía's silvery laugh at Harry's speedy response brought another small smile to his face. "Your friends seem really great."

Devía nodded in agreement, momentarily closing her eyes, quickly closing the distance to her Defense classroom. "Oh, they were."

Harry frowned briefly at Devía's use of the past tense, but he said nothing about it. Instead, he asked, "How did you…you and Derek, was his name? How did you learn to dance that well?"

"Oh." Devía smiled cheekily as the Defense door came into view. "We had our trade secrets." She turned to him upon reaching the classroom, leaning against the doorframe. "Well, you've served your sentence well, Mr. Potter, and _you_ weren't nearly as bad as I thought you would be, either. You're free to go."

An uncommon sparkle shone in Harry's emerald eyes as he gazed down at her, a few locks of black hair falling messily into his face. "I…I want to thank you," he began uncomfortably, shifting self-consciously under Devía's incredible amethyst stare. "For tonight, for listening, for telling me off when nobody else would." He smiled lightly. "What you said… It wasn't just out of sympathy, it was real. It… it helped me see things."

Devía twirled a strand of apple cinnamon waves around her finger, her eyes thoughtfully musing. "Harry… If you ever feeling like going and doing a Friday night again…" she paused, and Harry tensed up, the completely readable green eyes that he rarely opened up to anyone beginning to close again, "Why don't you come on over and bring an extra bottle?" Devía smiled delicately as he sagged a bit in relief, and she stuck out her hand. "Friends?"

Harry studied her if she was asking him for an inalterable promise. Finally, he let out a breath and took her small, slender hand in his. "Yeah." His hand was still cold from the outside, and Devía shivered at his touch. "Friends."

"This doesn't mean you can expect any special treatment in the classroom, though." Devía added with a laugh. She glanced down at their hands, still locked together. "Harry? Can I have my hand back?"

"Oh—Oh, yeah." Harry flushed again, probably from the wave of heat that was radiating from the warm Defense room, and he smiled at Devía, a genuine smile that reached his eyes. "Goodnight."

"Night." Devía gladly returned it, her face radiating. She smiled again and waved, ducking inside her classroom as he whispered, "Devía."

A moment later, on impulse, Devía called, "Oh, and Harry—Detention with Filch isn't nearly as fun as detention with me, so stay out of trouble!" She laughed to herself and muttered, "Although trouble does seem to find you."

Devía was too far inside the classroom to see Harry freeze halfway down the hall, a tiny gleam of recognition slowly flickering across his shocked face.

A/N: Should I keep going? Review and let me know!

Peace out

-Lady Moonglow


	23. She Bangs

A/N: I've changed this chapter around a little, so for those of you who read it the first or second day it was posted, read it again!

The people at fanfiction worked some weird kind of dark magic on my story and got rid of my two author's notes, I have no idea why, so that's why it looks like I have less chapters. Also, I liked two songs for this chapter, so bear with my song/story shippiness!

I just got my computer back TODAY and HOPEFULLY they worked out all the bugs (YAY! does a happy dance for the computer gods) THANK you all SO much for your patience! To anyone I didn't catch at the last chapter- Chibimatchmaker, psysch77, thanks for the happy encouragement! Oceana-14: I think your praying worked! Wytil-Good point about their fortunes, I never even really considered the major implications their money would have. The thing about Fudge, though, is that in my story I don't think he's the one who's _really_ running the show anymore! Blondebouncingferret-you caught me, but I think I mentioned somewhere in here that this story is AU. Dru- I have absolutely no idea what that means. Rain-witch: G'day mate! Thanks for making me feel better about my stupid computer situation. Retarted monkey- I'm so glad you like it, I liked reading your reviews as you read along. Jenny- Sorry to make you keep checking everyday! I would've updated to say exactly how long I would have been off but I couldn't get on a computer ANYWHERE! Tween Idol- You're not crazy, and your review made me laugh! Kat- Uh-oh! I feel bad for your brothers! Hmm, stories I like…. Well, to be quite honest, I haven't really read that much of the HP fanfiction but I seem to remember Seeking Ginny and Seeking the Truth are pretty good Harry/Ginny, Something More and Wizarding Betrothal if you like Lily/James, Our Winter was a good Draco/Ginny, and Impressions for Draco/Hermione…. Haven't really read any Harry/Hermione, ironically...

Oh yeah-If Devía seems a little OOC this chapter, just remember: she has just found out that the most dangerous man in her world has still been creeping around for two years. It's kind of like finding out that Osama Bin Laden is somebody living in your neighborhood, and that's kind of creepy. She's obviously a tad bit disturbed that nobody else has figured this out. PS I totally didn't expect this chapter to end like it did but after I finished I liked where I'm gonna go with it!

Thanks a billion, TRILLION to Amdorn for helping me out with this chapter!

_Talk to me  
__Tell me your name  
__You blow me off like it's all the same  
__You lit a fuse and now I'm ticking away like a bomb  
__Yeah, Baby  
_

_Talk to me  
__Tell me your sign  
__You're switching signs like a Gemini  
__You're playing games and now you're beatin' my heart like a drum  
__Yeah, Baby_

_Well if Lady Luck gets on my side  
__We're gonna rock this town alive  
__I'll let her rough me up till she knocks me out  
__She walks like she talks and she talks like she walks_

_And she bangs, she bangs  
__Oh baby when she moves, she moves  
__I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower but she stings like a bee  
__Like every girl in history_

_She bangs, she bangs  
__I'm wasted by the way she moves  
__No one ever looked so fine  
__She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind_

_Talk to me  
__Tell me your name  
__I'm just a link in your daisy chain  
__Your rap sounds like a diamond map to the stars  
__Yeah, Baby_

_Talk to me  
__Tell me the news  
__You wear me out like a pair of shoes  
__We'll dance until the band goes home then you're gone  
__Yeah, Baby_

_Well if it looks like love should be a crime  
__You'd better lock me up for life  
__I'll do the time with a smile on my face  
__Thinking of her in her leather and lace_

_And she bangs, she bangs  
__Oh baby when she moves, she moves  
__I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower but she stings like a bee  
__Like every girl in history_

_She bangs, she bangs  
__I'm wasted by the way she moves  
__No one ever looked so fine  
__She reminds me that a woman's got one thing on her mind_

_Well if Lady Luck gets on my side  
__We're gonna rock this town alive  
__I'll let her rough me up  
__Till she knocks me out  
__She walks like she talks,  
__And she talks like she walks_

_And she bangs, she bangs  
__Oh baby when she moves, she moves  
__I go crazy 'cause she looks like a flower but she stings like a bee  
__Like every girl in history_

_She bangs, she bangs_

_-Ricky Martin, _She Bangs

Some secrets need to be kept  
Some stories should never be told  
Some reasons shouldn't be understood  
They just might turn your blood cold

Who needs all the answers?  
Who takes all the chances?  
Who said the truth's gonna save you?  
When the truth could be dangerous?

Like the way I feel  
It's alright to steal  
What I need from you  
Do what I have to do  
Say what I have to say  
Go where I have to go  
And that's dangerous  
Dangerous to know

I was a law unto myself  
When you found me out on my own  
Together, nothing was sacred  
Together, we were alone

Who needs all the questions?  
Who lost their direction?  
Who said a lie's gonna break you?  
When a lie could be dangerous?

Like the way I feel  
It's all right to steal  
What I need from you  
Do what I have to do  
Say what I have to say  
Go where I have to go  
And that's dangerous  
Dangerous to know

Ignorance is bliss  
You're safe when you resist  
There's no safety in a kiss like this  
It's dangerous  
So kiss me  
Kiss me

Like the way I feel  
It's all right to steal  
What I need from you  
Do what I have to do  
Say what I have to say  
Go where I have to go  
And that's dangerous  
Dangerous

Some secrets need to be kept...

Hilary Duff, _Dangerous to Know_

"_This doesn't mean you can expect any special treatment in the classroom, though." Devía added with a laugh. She glanced down at their hands, still locked together. "Harry? Can I have my hand back?"_

"_Oh—Oh, yeah." Harry flushed again, probably from the wave of heat that was radiating from the warm Defense room, and he smiled at Devía, a genuine smile that reached his eyes. "Goodnight." _

"_Night." Devía gladly returned it, her face radiating. She smiled again and waved, ducking inside her classroom as he whispered, "Devía." _

_A moment later, on impulse, Devía called, "Oh, and Harry—Detention with Filch isn't nearly as fun as detention with me, so stay out of trouble!" She laughed to herself and muttered, "Although trouble does seem to find you."_

_Devía was too far inside the classroom to see Harry freeze halfway down the hall, a tiny gleam of recognition slowly flickering across his shocked face._

**Chapter 13**

"Sev. SEV! I _need_ to talk to you."

The early morning light flashed into the dreary Potions classroom like a lighthouse beacon as the heavy wooden door pounded open. Devía burst down the length of long writing counters up to Snape's desk. Her midnight-black robe, still open, billowed backward as she ran, revealing a rumpled scarlet dress shirt and black pants that looked like that had been hastily thrown on, and she make it across the crowded but uncluttered room to Snape's desk in seconds.

Alec nosed his face out from behind a thick book flamboyantly labeled Love Potions: Are You a Nine or Ten? as he perched precariously on a rail behind Snape's cauldron. He let out a gigantic yawn, covering his mouth with the book as he did, although despite his late night, he still looked the quintessential image of the perfect male specimen.

"Ah-_ummm_, love, you missed the _entire_ movie!" A 'hello, good morning' grin spread across Alec's face, his tired, latte colored eyes lighting up, and he poked a finger at Snape. "Plus, it was _his_ turn to provide the refreshments. You should have _seen_ the pot of stuff he was cooking up last night, love!"

"Yeah, the pot of stuff I was cooking up last night…." Snape actually chuckled, looking about as awake as Alec, and he continued to hover over the bubbly, gooey black mixture. "Professor Smart took one look at it and decided he was going to bed…." He trailed off inquisitively at the expression on her face as she drifted a few feet from his desk, the wary gleam in her eyes enough to set him on edge. "Devía? What's happened?"

Devía said nothing, simply turning around and flicking her wand at the door, swinging it shut.

_BANG_!

"_Bloody_—" Alec spluttered, slamming his book shut on his nose as he leapt a foot in the air, nearly falling backward off the railing. "What is your _problem_, love?" He huffed and straightened himself out again, not noticing Devía scowl irritatedly, and he deliberately rattled the pages noisily as he flipped through the book in search of his lost spot.

"Nothing that concerns you." Devía retorted snidely, trying her best to ignore Alec's presence as he made a face and dove back into his book. She looked around the room, moved a small, empty cauldron to the floor, and pulled the chair it had been occupying over to Snape's desk, sitting down agitatedly on the worn armrest. **Well, let's get straight to the point**. "Listen," she began, her voice strangely controlled, even. "Everyone just assumed Voldemort died, that day two years ago."

The steady _DRIP DRIP DRIP_ of water in a corner of Snape's room was all that could be heard beside the distant, muffled shouts of Slytherins heading to breakfast. Devía paused, meeting Snape's expectant eyes as he stood, poised, above his smoking cauldron.

"What if they were all wrong?"

The second the words left her mouth, Alec stared at Devía as if she had suddenly sprouted wings, book frozen in mid-flip, obscuring the lower half of his face, while Snape made a small, strained noise and abruptly cleaned out his cauldron with a wave of his wand. His eyes darkened, narrowing as he surveyed her appraisingly. "Well, that was unexpected."

"Last night. Memory Sphere in the Forbidden Forest. Thestral stampede. I _saw_ Harry's memories of the Last Battle. Sev," Devía's voice cut off as she filled him in, and she shifted her eyes to stare at Snape gravely, enunciating each word as if she was thinking them out as she said them. "I saw something… _no one _else did. And… that something was Voldemort apparating away a second before he got hit with the killing curse."

Snape stared at Devía uncomprehendingly for a moment. Finally, he asked in a low, '_What_ did you just say to me?' tone, "Come again?"

Devía tilted her head warily back toward the far door, as if she was afraid someone was standing outside listening to their every word, before sliding back down into the seat and focusing her full attention on Snape. "I think you heard me."

To his credit, Snape's expression never once gave away his reaction, but Devía noticed the wheels of his mind turning through his dark eyes. "Then I would have to first inform you that the entire world didn't see what you did," he said slowly, as if tasting the words as they rolled off his tongue. "Even the boy celebrity thought he…properly _deposed_ of the Dark Lord."

Devía shook her head in opposition, her eyes distant and calculating. "Harry was the _only_ one in that field, Sev." **Besides me.** "After he got hit with that _Vicara_, he saw no more. There was _no_ way he could have been able to tell whether he got Voldemort or not, and it's unfair to blame everyone else's assumption on him. But I saw what I saw," she added stubbornly, "and what I saw was for sure."

Taking a deep breath, Devía frustratedly ran a hand through her long apple cinnamon tresses, still messily wavy and bedridden from her early morning rush to Snape's. "I'm not wrong, Sev. I wish to God I was, but I know I'm not. Voldemort's still alive. Why the hell he disappeared off the face of the earth for two years, I don't know, but _he is not dead_." Devía gritted out the last four words and suddenly slammed her fist on the table. "_Damn _it!"

To her far right, a neatly piled stack of cauldrons burst away from the deteriorating wall and tumbled to the ground, spilling noisily as they clattered across the room.

Alec jumped again, this time simply throwing his book up in the air in exasperation so random pages rained down on his head. "LOVE! You need to learn to _control_ that!"

"Shut the hell up, Smart, I am _not_ in the mood." Devía's violet eyes seemed to swirl with heated emotion as she stared in a mixture of anger and sadness at Snape, and he closed his mouth after it had fallen open at her random outburst of wandless magic. Only one side of Devia's mouth moved as she uttered thickly, "I thought I left war behind."

"Peace is only an illusion." Snape sighed tiredly and pulled back his chart, sinking into it heavily and rubbing his temples. "Your story, though radical, would be remotely plausible be it not for one factor. The Ministry officials that inspected the sight of Voldemort's supposed demise reported that that Potter's last spell was right on target, and concluded that Voldemort disintegrated on the spot."

"Well, they're wrong." As Snape raised an eyebrow coolly, Devía quickly continued, "Look, I know that sounds really juvenile, but it's true." Her voice was beginning to take control of the conversation as Hermione had liked to do so many years ago. "Voldemort _didn't_ get hit, and his ashes definitely _didn't_ burst into flame and blow away with the wind, either. Any idiot with the intelligence of a _worm_ would have been able to deduce that as soon as they walked into that field, and with all the equipment those clowns at the Ministry have? There shouldn't have been a _doubt_ in their minds. The real question is…." A thin eyebrow rose as she paused, looking up at Snape, realization dawning in her eyes.

**The real question is, why would the ministry try to cover it up?**

The same thought seemed to occur to Snape at the exact moment it occurred to Devía, and he muttered, "What was that _imbecile_ Fudge thinking…"

Devía sucked in a breath of air, counted to seven, and let it out. "All right. Everybody, relax. Let's think rationally here. Let's say Voldemort never died. That answers the question of why Voldemort's biggest supporters got exempted from prison. Hell, it even explains why _Umbridge_ is running this school. But _where_ did he go? _Why_ did he go? And _how_ does he have such a deep infiltration within the government if "everyone" thinks he's dead?"

Alec glanced up from his book again, his sly expression and twinkling eyes akin to a child who had just thought up something naughty to distract the class. "_Deep_ questions from such a _shallow_ mind."

"And _you_!" Devía hissed, finally reaching the end of her rope. She spun in her seat in Alec's general direction and jabbed a slender finger toward him threateningly. Alec himself had already shrunk back, though, as soon as the phrase '_And you_!' left her mouth, which he had begun to associate with the words _scream, throw, and break_. "Do you _not_ see that we are discussing something _so_ grave and _so_ serious, the fate of the _entire wizarding world _may rest on this _one_ conversation?"

Alec raised his eyebrows mildly, holding the brightly colored Love Potions out in front of him like a matador holds a red cape. "Well, I think that's being a bit dramatic, don't you, love—"

"_Wait_!" Devía's finger was the only part of her that moved, but it jerked at him ominously, and her voice rose authoritatively. "I'm _not_ done. Either you contribute something _useful_ to this conversation, or you say _nothing_ at all." She lowered her voice, finishing in an eerily composed but forceful tone. "_Are we in agreement_?"

Alec's mouth fell open in utter shock before it snapped shut. Devía leaned back in her seat resignedly and crossed her arms in finality, but Snape's mouth twisted into a surprising smile. "I wait with bated breath until the day you use that on any idiotic student who dares cross your path."

'_Wait with bated breath'? _**Who **talks** like that?** Devía offered Snape a forced grin. **Great. My teaching style receiving the admiration of Severus Snape has **always** been a personal goal of mine.** "So what do we do about all those deep, unanswered questions?"

Snape sighed heavily again. "This much I know, Devía, and only this much. The final year I was a double agent, Voldemort was moving. Until that time, I had foolishly believed I was in his most elite inner circle, but I figured otherwise when Voldemort made no mention of his clandestine activities to any meeting at which I was present. I was no idiot, Devía; I could see how he would sometimes vanish for weeks on end during what seemed to be the most crucial moments of the war. My guess as to what he was planning in those long absences is as good as yours." He paused. "There is… one other thing. One other thing that only a… handful of people knows about."

Devía cocked her head at him, throwing her arms open receptively, a wide, carefree smile on her face. "Fire away, Sev! Might as well hit me all at once, don't ya think?"

Snape scowled slightly at her attitude, but he closed his eyes as he dug back in his memory. His glower faded quickly, though, and he began to look a bit drained, as if he regretted telling Devía the words he was about to say. "The natural magic of the world has a strange and sometimes perverse way of bestowing certain power on some and taking it from others. Take your family, for example. Throughout history, the Delaveger family has always been gifted in ways unknown to most others. Why that is, _I_ don't know, _you_ don't know, your _parents_ didn't know, and I'm sure the history professionals who study this sort of irrationality don't know either, but you all accepted it. Quite admirably, too, I must add."

Snape stopped his winded explanation, wherever it was it was leading, to give Devía the tight grimace he called a smile. **I still can't get over the fact that he's capable of moving his mouth that way.** "When the Dark Lord staged a comeback five years ago during the Triwizard Tournament, he also unleashed the apex of his own power, power few people have ever imagined possessing. The power that the universe bestowed to him. He is a Sorcerer, Devía."

Devía's eyebrows rose, and even she couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open, a warning, cautious glimmer flashing across her amethyst eyes. "You are _shitting_ me."

"My _God_, love, you mouth's on a _roll_ today. Another comment like that one and I'll be forced to break out the soap."

"No, I am not sh—er, I'm being quite serious," Sev rephrased haphazardly as Devía shot Alec a sour look. Alec chuckled, glancing away innocently. Devía finally shut her mouth, her eyes flying blindly about the room before she turned back to Snape and asked tensely, "And you never mentioned this…relatively _important_ little detail to anyone?"

Snape held up a hand. "Dumbledore knew. He, too, was a Sorcerer. Thus far in the history of the wizarding world, only one Sorcerer can destroy another—a sort of balance, if you will—which was one of the primary reasons so many rumors of 'Dumbledore being the only man the Dark Lord feared' circulated. That's also another reason why Dumbledore was able to defeat Grindewald."

Devía idly twisted a long lock of hair around her finger. **People are so predictable.** "Ironic, isn't it? All the Dark Lords and Leaders of the Light throughout the history of the world have been Sorcerers or Sorceresses. Dumbledore, Voldemort, Grindewald, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, some more powerful than others, but all potentially dangerous if they chose to be…" She trailed off, grinning humorlessly. "Couldn't they all just live in peace and be satisfied with their own talent?"

"Yeah, and sit around a fire holding hands and singing _Kum By Yah," (_A/N: Check spelling? That peace song!) Alec snorted, deciding to speak for the first time since Devía had bitten his head off.

Devía rolled her eyes and was about to snap back some retort to that when a sudden thought occurred to her, one she probably would have wondered earlier had she not been so preoccupied by the urgent matter at hand, and she glanced at Alec in exasperation. "What are you even _doing_ here?"

Alec pulled his head backward a little and studied her like she had suddenly lost her mind. "What, you mean, _here_?" He pointed at the floor with both hands, still hanging on to his Love Potions book. "In this _room_? Or in the general British Isles area?"

Devía crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair, blankly surveying the bleak, high rise ceiling, actually considering his question. "I think, for time's sake, we'll stick with the former."

Shaking his head at Devía condescendingly, a disappointed 'You are such a rude child' look in his eyes that seemed a bit unnatural on his youthful face, Alec said tartly, "Since you interrupted my train of thought, love, I'll give you the cliff notes version. Movie night. The solemn Movie Night Rules agreement that Ollie, the T-bird, Sev, you, and I agreed on when you thought up the whole Movie Night idea. You know: you cook 'em, we'll clean 'em and all that jazz. Last night was Sev's cooking night, _our_ cleaning night. _Ours_, love. But since _you_ didn't show _at all_, _my_ clean-up job spilled into the early morning."

**Whoops, totally forgot about that.** "Sorry," Devia muttered, dutifully examining her long, even nails, suddenly feeling guilty about her earlier rant at Alec. "I just got back to my room after detention and crashed."

Alec waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, love, I'll think of _some_ way you can make it up to me."

Devia's mouth fell open and she spluttered in protest, but Alec winked at her and tilted his head down at Snape. The man was still in his seat below Alec, but a slight smirk had played on his face the entire time Alec and Devía duked it out. Snape's ear quirked a bit to the right as Alec asked, "And how many other Sorcerers are running around out there that the average, uninformed citizen doesn't know about?"

**Wow. _Good_ question. _And_ he got the conversation back on track; I'm impressed. **Leaning back in the rickety old chair, Devía interestedly cocked her head at Snape as she waited for his response, and Snape turned his head sharply to Alec, his piercing gaze shooting daggers through Alec's perfectly groomed features. "Let's try to utilize your… _unparalleled_ deduction capabilities, shall we, Professor Smart? Remember, only one Sorcerer can kill another. Who else has managed to…." Snape curled his lip in obvious loathing, "put a _dent_ in the Dark Lord?"

Devía felt the chair fall out from under her even though she remained seated. "Oh, _God_." She answered the question before Alec had a chance to open his mouth. "Harry Potter is a Sorcerer." **Plus, he's one of the only people who can get Sev to make that face. **Devía shook her head in disbelief, her eyes strangely frozen on the cauldron on Snape's desk, and she muttered incredulously, "I _can't_ believe I never figured that _out_."

Snape slowly turned his chair back to face Devía. "Don't be too hard on yourself, you've only known the boy for two weeks."

A ghost of a mysterious smile hinted on Devía's face. **I'm not going to comment on that**. She placed a hand over her mouth in dismay, her eyes flicking around the Potions room indecisively until she let out a deep breath and sat straight up on her chair. "I'm telling Harry, Sev."

The professor stared at his young apple-cinnamon haired friend inquisitively. "You don't have to. Potter knows. Dumbledore told him a few years ago, what he was. Dumbledore thought he could consul him." Snape's eyes darkened, and his jaw tensed. "The Battle of Hogwarts took place the next day, and the Dark Lord killed Dumbledore."

Devía closed her eyes, trying to force the image of that cheerful, all-knowing, bearded elderly man from her mind. "No." Her amethyst eyes blinked open. "I'm going to tell him that Voldemort's alive. He _deserves_ to know, Sev!" she added heatedly at the disapproving expression that crossed Snape's face.

"_Potter_ is emotionally unstable," Snape snapped tightly, wincing every time Harry's name escaped his lips. "Any reckless, unplanned friendship with _Potter_ is going to get you _both_ in trouble with the Dark Lord if _you aren't careful_! _Potter_ is in no way a wise choice as recipient of a secret of this magnitude! _Potter_ will _not_ be able to handle it!"

"Won't be able to _handle_ it?" Devía gasped, her eyes widening in fury. "He fought that man more than a half dozen times before he turned _eighteen_! We're both on the Dark Lord's hit list anyway, don't ya think? You think my associating with _him_ will make my life more dangerous? This is a secret that _directly_ involves _him!_" She felt her face heat up, reddening. **Good Merlin, I'm arguing with Severus Snape. Somebody start digging my grave.** "Don't you _see_? Dumbledore hid Harry's heritage from him for _years_, and I've heard how being in the complete dark about things he _should_ have known _destroyed_ him! He doesn't need _padding_ anymore, Sev, he needs the _truth_—"

_BUM…. BUM…. BUM_…..

The low, monotonous booming vibrations jerked Devía back to reality. Her mouth closed with a snap, and she took in several breathless gulps of air, feeling the anger rush out of her body as quickly as it had come. **God, even his alarm is depressing.** "What does that mean?"

Snape's lip curled humorlessly. "It means classes start in three minutes."

"_Crap_." Devía's professor instincts kicked in and she jumped to her feet, babbling to herself as she frantically straightened her robe and rapidly checked her reflection in one of Snape's finely polished cauldrons.

"Lovely, I look like I've been run over by a train. What day is it, Tuesday? Yeah, yesterday was Monday, so that means I've got, um…. _Firsties_ for an _hour_!"

Devía looked about ready to pass out in alarm as she buttoned up the top of her robe. "Good Merlin, they're probably tearing up the room as we speak. Sev, I'll be back; this conversation _isn't_ over. Come _on_, Casanova, let's go!" she barked at Alec, finally taking a breath, only to dash from the room in a whirlwind, leaving a calm silence in her wake.

Alec scowled good-humoredly and chucked Love Potions at her retreating back before leisurely uncurling himself from the railing. "Merlin, love, you say _I'm_ annoying? Have you ever stopped long enough to listen to _yourself_?"

Snape rubbed his temples as Alec's book crashed to the ground nearly ten feet away, trying to hide his annoyance, and growled, "Never a dull moment with that girl."

Alec glanced at him interestedly while he casually traced Devía's steps back to where she had left the door flung open, rays of light streaming into the dimly lit room like the a flashlight shining into a black hole. He obviously was not in a large hurry to spend time with the 'firsties.' "Do you _ever_ have a normal day?"

Snape paused as if seriously considering the question. "Yes, once." Back in his teaching mode as the bell prepared to ring, he glared coldly at his collection of cauldrons, his lip curled again, as if the towering, curvy black wall was somehow the root of all of his problems. "It was a Thursday."

**Later….**

Devía strolled into the Upperclassmen common room at the same time the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon and the torch lights around the common room sparked to life, their light dancing warmly across the blue and purple hues of the furniture and shinning merrily off the heads of the six young adults there. Light brown, ash brown, dirty blond, white blonde, deep red, bluish black…. No messy, plain black. "Hey, guys."

"Oh, hi, Devía," Terry greeted amicably. "How may we be of service, my lady?" He was sitting at his usual corner homework table with Draco and Hannah. This time, though, Ginny had managed to squeeze herself into the small bit of extra space beside Draco and was doodling smiley faces on the corner of any free edge of parchment she could get her hands on.

Devía laughed lightly, trying to hide a grin as Ginny quickly reached across the table and scrawled an upside-down devil face with horns and a pitchfork on Terry's Charms homework the moment he glanced up at Devía. "I'm looking for Harry, actually. Has anyone seen him?"

"Umm…." Terry frowned thoughtfully and then raised his head to Luna. She was across the room, sitting peevishly in an armchair near the flickering fireplace, tapping her foot impatiently and glancing at the large numbers of the clock on the wall above her head every now and them. "Oi, Luna! Seen Harry around?"

"No," Luna snapped, her mouth drawn tightly, reminding Devía of how she used to feel whenever Harry and Ron stayed out too long, "but I'm sure he and Ron are out gallivanting _somewhere_. I haven't seen either of them since dinner."

"Yeah, I bet Zabini's up to no good, too, the little devil's been swaggering around all week," Terry mused, homework all but forgotten. "I mean, Luna! Did you _see_ the way he was in Binns' class and…."

"Her-Devía. Come here," Ginny said in a low voice. She glanced across the table at Terry, still retelling the History of Magic episode to Luna, and she surreptitiously caught the sleeve of Devía's dark robe, pulling her down, closer to table level. "What on _earth_ went down at detention last night?"

Devía's brow furrowed, and she bounced down on her haunches beside Ginny, staring, mystified, into the redhead's hazel eyes. "What do you mean, _what went down_?" **Harry wouldn't tell Ginny, would he?**

"I _mean_, Harry's been more _off_ today than he's been in a long time. _Long_ time. He hasn't said a single word to _anyone_ since he got up. Hoe actually threatened to dump him if he didn't talk during dinner and he walked _away_ from her. She's barking furious now," Ginny added with a self-satisfied smirk, but concern then returned to her attractively freckled but otherwise creamy white features, and she lowered her voice even more to ensure Hannah wouldn't be able to overhear. "Mione, what d'you _do_?"

Devía frowned, her amethyst eyes narrowed in confusion, trying to think over Terry's loud, bantering conversation with Luna. "I didn't do _anything_, Gin, he… he seemed alright last night, I mean…. " She shook her head, baffled, wondering why her stomach had suddenly twisted nervously. "I don't understand what could have happened between the time he left detention and this morning…."

"It was last night, actually."

Devía shifted her gaze beyond Ginny to Draco, but the blond appeared to be concentrating solely on his parchment, and his quill never stopped scratching against the paper. Any outside would have never been able to tell that he had just spoken to them. "Pardon?"

"Last night," Draco said quietly, continuing to write, distractedly flicking some loose, silky platinum strands of hair out of his face. "It was around one in the morning. Potter staggered in here. Literally. _I_ was still up because…Well, I was up," he concluded lamely. "I've never seen Wonderboy so _out_ of his emotional mask, so to speak. Looked like he had seen a dead person. I nearly had to drag him back to the dorms, and nearly _half_ our store of firewhiskey was _gone_, but hell if I asked him what was wrong. He crashed and the rest is history."

**Did Draco Malfoy just voluntarily help _me_, Hermione Granger?** Devía smiled genuinely at Draco, but then she shook her head in alarm at his shared information, and she muttered, "Oh my _God_, what did I miss?"

Deeming her friend suitably preoccupied, Ginny turned her head back to Draco, tossing her long deep red hair over her shoulder and flashing him a friendly grin. "Thanks for that, D."

Draco seemed to shrug disinterestedly, burying his face in his homework again as a strong whiff of Ginny's strawberries 'n cream shampoo wafted across the small work table, but Devía couldn't help but notice a tiny blush work its way up on his face. He muttered what sounded like, "Nothing to hide. Don't hold five year old grudges."

A small grin lit Devía's face, but her eyes remained distant. "I just…. wish I knew _what_ the hell that boy is _thinking_ sometimes…"

"Welcome back to the Hogwarts Soap Opera." Ginny reached out a hand and grasped Devía's arm, doing her best to pull Devía to her feet and spin her around with both hands, pushing her toward the portrait hole. "Go get him, tiger."

"_Gin_!" Devía laughed, swatting at Ginny's hand as Ginny's shove sent her stumbling toward the exit at the same time Terry wrapped up his conversation with Luna and looked down at his paper.

"MERLIN, _WOMAN_!" he howled as soon as he saw the image Ginny had drawn minutes before. His hand flashed out and gripped Ginny's quill, his other hand shaking a finger at her furiously, but she grinned mischievously and giggled as he bleated, "Umbridge Jr. is going to _kill_ me, Gin!"

Draco smirked as he continued writing his paper.

"And if you happen to see Ronald dearest, tell him the Herbology papers and I are still waiting!" Luna called after Devía from her fireside seat, the heat from the flames and her agitation from having to put up with Ron every day combining to redden her cheeks.

**Don't worry, Luna, I can **totally** sympathize with you**. Devía waved cheerfully in response before the portrait hole slid shut behind her.

**Some deserted Fifth Floor Hall…**

"Think turning into a mute will solve all your problems, Potter? Just wait. You'll have your day."

"Yeah? I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Zabini, considering your girlfriend seems to be nowhere in sight to protect you," Ron growled, stepping forward as a thin slit of moonlight slipped through a nearby, wall-sized glass window and reflected clear down the corridor, all but empty except for a few armored knights guarding it coldly.

Ron scowled as Harry reached out and grabbed a hold of his robe. There was a warning expression in the tall young man's emerald eyes, and he shook his head slightly, but Ron stuck out his lower lip like he was still sixteen. "_Har_-ry! Come _on_! There's two of us and one of him!"

Blaise regarded Ron—and Harry behind him—coolly, fingering his wand, when a faint, cocky smile spread across his features, and he drawled slowly, "Well, well, _look_ what the cat dragged in."

"Mr. Zabini."

Both Ron and Harry looked startled at the feminine voice that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Ron glanced back with a mixture of dismay at the situation and rage at Blaise; Harry simply closed his eyes momentarily, his wand still rigidly at his side, after seeing the slender apple-cinnamon haired woman leaning casually against a smooth white marble column behind them, arms crossed threateningly. "Have your two girlfriends Umbridge Junior and Senior dumped you, Mr. Zabini, or have they just decided to elope?"

"Delaveger," Blaise spat with a cold smile. "I didn't know you had a sense of humor." He leered at the young professor so menacingly that both Ron and Harry instinctively, involuntarily took a protective step closer to her. Ron glanced at Harry in confusion after his feet moved, and Harry shrugged, awkwardly gripping his hand more tightly around his wand. The unruffled Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, however, sized up the competition and managed to take complete control of the situation.

"While you're around me, Zabini, you seem to have these…_seventh year moments_ where you forget that I am _actually_ a professor at this school." Devia said unperturbedly. She stood, drawing herself to her full height, the moonlight shining off the lighter streaks in her hair to give her a peacefully ethereal glow. Her expression, however, was far from peaceful, and she fearlessly strolled closer to Blaise, passing right by Ron and Harry.

"Well, you had _better_ start remembering." Her voice lowered to the same dangerous tone she had used on Alec earlier. "Oh, I have a hell of a lot more than a sense of humor, Zabini. A _hell_ of a lot more. You don't want to find out what it is, Zabini. And let me be the first to tell you, if you continue to _mess_ with me, you will get _hell_ served up to you on a _nice_ little plate, _complete_ with a tea set. And _you_!"

Devía suddenly spun around and jabbed a slender finger at Ron, who staggered backward as if he had been shot, "Herbology project. Common room. Now. Luna has been waiting over an hour for your sorry ass to show up, and Zabini—" Devía cocked her head at Blaise, her eyes icily daring him to say more, "Don't you have a delightful date with Filch waiting for you right about now?"

Blaise glared at Devía coldly, obviously not wanting to run out in the middle of a first-class fight. He took a few steps toward the corridor's exit stiffly, his blue eyes blazing furiously, gripping his wand some angrily Devía thought he might actually use it on her. His azure pools cleared for a moment, though, and he snarled. "This isn't over, _Delaveger_. Someday, _somebody's_ going to get you, and you'll know then that you and your bloody family chose the _wrong_ side!"

"Detention, Zabini, for utter _lack_ of respect toward a professor," Devía intoned flatly as he stalked down the corridor after Ron. Suddenly, a small smirk lit her face. " '_Somebody's going to get you, Delaveger_'... Didn't your mummy teach you to only make promises you _knew_ could be kept?"

A small, muffled bark of laughter escaped from Ron's mouth as he disappeared around the dimly visible far corner of the hall, and Blaise soon followed his exit.

Devía shoved a hand in her pocket and ran a hand through her hair, tousling it as she rubbing her head back and forth quickly, feeling like pacing the moonlit hall, still well aware that there was still one person in the corridor with her that she had to deal with, and he was so close she could almost feel his breath on her neck. **That is, if the guy even decides to talk.** She turned around reluctantly, still wondering why the whole situation was making her feel so damned uncomfortable. "Mr. Potter."

Harry's emerald eyes bore down at her, an unreadable, guarded light in them, a far throw from the complete openness he had allowed her to see of him last night, but she steadily met his piercing gaze. Just as Devía was thinking up the best way to break it to him, he broke the silence himself, twirling his wand around his fingers and quietly speaking his first words of the day. "And where do _I_ have to be, professor?"

**He **does** speak! Amazing. **"_You_ have to be right here, right now." Devía quickly took a few steps away from him, making sure at least four stone tiles were between them. **I mean, we both need some breathing room after that**. "Look, hear me out, okay? I have something really important to tell you. About last night."

Harry's eyes still gazed intently into hers as if he was trying to gauge her sincerity. Devia's right eyebrow arched slightly as she felt a very small probe at her mind. **What the—** Without even thinking twice, she shoved it out of her head. **Oooo, nice try**.

Her mental force was so strong, Harry actually winced, his head jerking backward so hastily that his free hand shot to his face to catch his glasses. He quickly straightened back up, though, and shook his head vigorously. "You know Occlumency… that _well_?"

Devía's other eyebrow raised in amusement at the surprise in his voice. "Don't sound so shocked. I mean, I _do_ teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, after all." She tilted her head up at him, grinning teasingly twirling her wand around her fingers. "I guess I'll just always be a mystery to you, won't I?"

Despite her snappy retort, she must have passed whatever little test was Harry was conducting because he regarded her cautiously and eventually shoved his wand into his back pocket, crossing his arms. "Alright, I'm waiting."

Devía sighed again and leaned her right shoulder against the cold, rough wall. "All right. Last night, when I went into your memory of the last battle… I saw something. Something no one else saw, something no one else was _meant_ to see. Something _you_ didn't even see."

Harry's eyes flickered, but he didn't move, didn't even breathe, it seemed. "Continue."

Taking a breath, Devía was glad her voice was coming out a whole lot stronger than she felt. And right now she felt ill. Completely, positively ill. She didn't know why; she had come out on top of all her arguments today. It was just something about….Well, making small talk about the Dark Lord with Harry was never her strong suit. "It's regarding Voldemort, actually—"

"_Voldemort_?" The word came out of Harry's mouth a dangerous, guttural growl. Abruptly, he shoved a hand through his dark hair, his eyes burning strangely, and turned away from her toward the mile-long window.

**You're not going to make this any easier for me, are you?** Devía's nose wrinkled up in confusion as she watched him turn away, not knowing what she had said to set him off. The volume of his voice, though, was speedily augmenting in proportion with his temper. "You said _all_ that, and you're going to talk to me about _Voldemort_!"

**Hey now, wait a second. **What** did I ever do to **you? "What, did you expect me to talk about something _else_? Something _you_ felt like talking about?" The volume of Devía's voice was steadily rising to match Harry's. "What _is_ it with you, huh? Can _nothing_ ever be exactly as _you_ want it?"

"Don't play _games_ with me, all right? Every single day of my _life_ has never been how I've wanted it!" Harry spun around furiously, his green eyes flashing as he nodded to himself, quickly eyeing her up and down while she stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "I _knew_ I recognized your voice the first second I heard it. It was _you_, wasn't it? That day, that battle, that field, that spell, that _scar_," he threw out, savagely pulling down his sweater collar so she could see the small triangle on his neck. Devía actually felt her blood run cold, and she faintly reached back to find the wall reassuringly, able to feel yet unchanneled power emanating from him. **Shit.**

**Did I ever mention that my life sucks sometimes?**

"_Why_ didn't you tell me?" Harry demanded hotly, leaning down closer to her. She completely drew back against the wall, noticing, with a start, a large amount of hurt mixing with the resentment in his emerald eyes as he continued, "It wasn't as if you didn't have the _opportunity_. Let's see, there was… _tonight_… _last_ night… the _first_ day you bloody _met_ me—"

Anger pulsed through Devía's veins like a firestorm, and she pulled herself away from the wall, tossing her hair over her shoulders and shoving her face right up into his. "I have heard _enough_ about _your _problems, now _you_ listen to _me_. _Yes_, I was there that day. _Yes_, I saw you fight Voldemort. _Yes_, I made the hole in your neck disappear. _No_, I did not tell you about it. You want to know why? You wanna know _why_ I didn't tell you it was me, Harry?"

Devía panted as she paused her tirade, her amethyst eyes scorching, shining like purple jewels in the moonlight, and a part of her mind wondered exactly what it was she was going to tell him next.

The moonlight was still bathing every inch of her face and Harry's back, and anyone who may have happened to wander by the pair at that moment would have seen a faint, smoky green haze radiating in wisps like dry ice off the imposing, dark haired young man. A searing, amethyst cloud shimmering off the fuming but equally striking woman as she challengingly stared up at the man completed the eerie scene. But as it was, the entire floor was completely abandoned, and Harry and Devía remained alone and totally oblivious to whatever was happening around them. _To_ them.

Still mentally composing an answer, Devía gave an unnoticeable jerk as she felt an unnatural, indescribable static spark jolt through every nerve in her body. Harry was still breathing heatedly, his chest rising and falling in short bursts, but his bright green eyes were now staring at Devía, her face so close to his, as if mesmerized. He was rapidly taking in her flowing hair, her smooth forehead, her lightly freckled cheeks, her darkly long-lashed, violet eyes, her perfectly shaped nose, her deliciously inviting lips….

And Harry kissed Devía.

Devía wasn't sure if she knew what Harry was going to do before he did it—or if _he_ did either, for that matter—but her eyes flew open, stunned, as his head suddenly shot the last inch down to her face and roughly locked onto her mouth. He threw so much passion into his actions that Devía saw stars. All sense of time and place seemed to float right out of Devia's mind like a butterfly. "_Uuuumm_," she moaned unconsciously, her back slamming up against the wall from his initial force, but all she could feel was the fury in her body rearing up and releasing itself as she involuntarily, heatedly kissed back. She felt him grasp her face between his hands and deepen his embrace, caressing her lips like she was the last woman he would ever, ever see on earth, and Devía felt an explosion of energy like she had never known surge through her body…

_BOOM_!

With a horrendous ripping noise, the knight nearest Harry and Devía burst apart, shattering into a thousand metal pieces that rained down on the corridor floor. Devía's eyes flew open and both she and he abruptly jerked away from each other. Harry's gasp came at the moment her lips left his, horror exploding in his emerald eyes, the realization of his spur-of-the-moment act dawning on him. "Good_ Merlin_."

Devía stared first at Harry uncomprehendingly, gulping in air, still trying to figure out what had just happened in the last five seconds, then gaping in shock at the shiny metal littering the floor. **Did he just… kiss me? **

"Merlin… Dev_—_I-I mean, Pro-_Professor_!" Harry finally choked out in a strangled voice, stumbling backward, shoving a hand through his hair so savagely Devía was afraid he'd take out a chunk. "Professor, I…I am _so_ sorry, oh _God, _I should have _never_…I mean, I-I can't believe I e-even, I don't know what…"

**Oh my _Lord_, he just _kissed_ me! **Devía's mouth fell open but no words came out, or, at least, the words she _wanted_ to say _couldn't_ come out. She slid down the side of the cold stone wall, making it halfway to the ground before she finally caught herself and her breath, still staring at him, her eyes distant. **God, nobody's kissed me like that since _Derek_…** **No! Bad Devía, bad!**

Harry, meanwhile, stood in the middle of the hallway, and anyone could see he was utterly mortified. He had donned an unbecoming deer-in-the-headlights expression despite his deeply flushed face, and his wide eyes desperately gazed down the deserted hallway. He took another shaky step backward, and, as if to complete his embarrassment, he tripped on a large chunk of the knight's helmet and would have fallen on his face had he not caught himself, stuttering, "I-I should go…._Merlin_, I am _so_ sorry…I'm _so_… _so sorry_…."

**But he's my **best** friend! He can't **kiss** me! And what in God's name happened with that knight? What the hell is going on!**

Taking Devía's unanswered silence as a 'Yes, you should get the hell out of here before I detention your ass from here to infinity,' Harry fled down the long, moonlit hall long before Devía even realized that he had gone.

A/N: Please REVIEW, comments, critiques, hellos and goodbyes! I love hearing from you! Your reviews totally keep me going!

Peace out

Lady Moonglow


	24. Headstrong

**A/N: **Hey, everyone! I apologize for the wait, I really do, but I had two huge life determining standardized tests and two piano recitals and a ton of other things in my life that I had to deal with first. In the meantime, I thank you all for your great support. I should let you know, this will most likely be my last update until after spring break (PARIS and ROME baby!), so I'm warning you now, the wait might be about three and a half weeks : - (. I know this might make some of you sad, but never fear, I'll always make an effort to update as soon as I possibly can! (and I WILL update, I promise!) The next chapter is going to really take off with the duel/Voldy plot, which I'm also really excited about!

Also, for those of you who are DYING to know: Yes, Harry finds out that Devía is Hermione. No, he doesn't find out until the opportune time. In other words, near the end. Which is probably more than 5 chapters away. Maybe six. Or even seven. I know you don't believe me now, but this is _important_ for their relationship in my story! Really, it is! Trust me on this one! This is still H/HR, and the Harry/Hermie chemistry is totally there even if her name isn't.

Thanks to the great reviews from sylverwings2010, periazhad, preggyuo, chibimatchmaker, duckie, smutbunnies, animeLCgrl, rainwitch, missing fairy, aquarius chik 101, Tree, Hermione-Potter-52036, spaceshipjamies, jnmoonprincess, Ceci Black, sylverwings, Sabrina, takodah02, Tamar, RSegovia, cdm-ca, and Victoria87. Oh, by the way, LadySunglow, I love the name; PotterRocks, I hope you didn't die; TheOneandOnlyBarry—my best friend's name is Rachel!; Lehcar Sundance, Alec and Devia really rub each other awesomely too, I think, but I've begun to picture Alec as more of Devia's annoying and sometimes protective big brother. Don't worry, Harry will always be lurking there somewhere. Wow that sounded creepy. Naitch03-thanks a lot for the love, I'm glad you thought I pulled Opt. 2 off well. Whenever I get a little review from someone in my email my computer beeps and makes a fun noise and it makes me happy! It's almost like a on/off button response. So, without further ado, on to the story……..

Oh yeah, in case you're wondering—in the beginning of the chapter, Devía is not drugged, brainwashed, or hexed, nor does she have a hangover. She is merely suffering from a strong case of denial.

Circling your head  
Contemplating everything you ever said  
Now I see the truth, I got a doubt  
A different motive in your eyes and now I'm out  
See you later

I see your fantasy  
You wanna make it a reality paved in gold  
See inside, inside of our heads, yeah, well now that's over  
I see your motives inside  
Decisions to hide

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
Headstrong, we're headstrong

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
If this is not where you belong

I can't give everything away  
I won't give everything away

Conclusions manifest  
Your first impression's got to be your very best  
I see you're full of shit and that's alright  
That's how you play, I guess you get through every night  
Well now that's over

I see your fantasy  
You wanna make it a reality paved in gold  
See inside, inside of our heads, yeah, well now that's over  
I see your motives inside  
Decisions to hide

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
Headstrong, we're headstrong

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
If this is not where you belong

I can't give everything away  
This is not where you belong  
I won't give everything away

I know, I know all about  
I know, I know all about  
I know, I know all about  
I know, I know all about your motives inside  
And your decision to hide

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
Headstrong, we're headstrong

Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
If this is not where you belong

I can't give everything away  
This is not where you belong  
I won't give everything away  
This is not where you belong

Trapt, _Headstrong_

**Oh my Lord, he just kissed me!**_Devía's mouth fell open but no words came out, or, at least, the words she wanted to say couldn't come out. She slid down the side of the cold stone wall, making it halfway to the ground before she finally caught herself and her breath, still staring at him, her eyes distant. _**God, nobody's kissed me like that since Derek…** **No! Bad Devía, bad!**

_Harry, meanwhile, stood in the middle of the hallway, and anyone could see he was utterly mortified. He had donned an unbecoming deer-in-the-headlights expression despite his deeply flushed face, and his wide eyes desperately gazed down the deserted hallway. He took another shaky step backward, and, as if to complete his embarrassment, he tripped on a large chunk of the knight's helmet and would have fallen on his face had he not caught himself, stuttering, "I-I should go….Merlin, I am so sorry…I'm so… so sorry…."_

**But he's my best friend! He can't kiss me! And what in God's name happened with that knight? What the hell is going on?**

_Taking Devía's unanswered silence as a 'Yes, you should get the hell out of here before I detention your ass from here to infinity,' Harry fled down the long, moonlit hall long before Devía even realized that he had gone._

**Chapter 14**

**I am as light as a feather, I am as light as a feather….** Devía felt like she was floating. The soft, cool poof of air beneath her was so light and airy, Devía closed her eyes more tightly and snuggled deeper into it, sighing in pleasure as her body immediately, gently bounced back up with a soft _swooosh_. She was half surprised she hadn't fallen back to earth yet, half wondering how a hallway floor could have possibly gotten so comfortable.

Hallway floor. **What on earth was I doing on a hallway floor?**

"_Aaaaaaauuughhh_," Devía moaned in a muffled voice. She slowly opened her eyes and immediately squeezed them closed again as a blinding white light streamed into her amethyst pools, her hands flailing wildly behind her head before finding something big and fluffy and shoving it over her head. **My God in heaven. I've died.**

The warm fuzzy feeling still persisted, and Devía's body seemed to sway up and down dreamily with the vibrations of her sudden motion. **Merlin, if this is Heaven, if sure feels _good_.** Devía burrowed farther into the pillow, fighting back the urge to sneeze as a stray feather tickled her nose.

**Wait… _pillow?_**

Squinting, Devía dragged the cushion off her face and blinked at it in confusion. Her eyes moved beyond it and took in the deep blue and purple hues of her Head's room, accented by the natural light pouring down on her through the skinny, bed length glass skylights directly above her bed (The moment Alec had arrived he had promptly insisted on turning both his and her divans into water beds). **Why do I not remember coming to bed last night?**

Devía rolled over sleepily and let out a muffled shriek as she landed on the floor with a loud _THUD!_

"Ow," she muttered darkly, laying there on her silk pajama clad back for a moment and staring straight up at the knots in the rich mahogany wooden ceiling in a kind of dazed stupor. Finally, she shook her head vigorously and floundered around for the sheets dangling off her bed, pulling herself to her feet with a groan. She stumbled over to her clothing bureau and, without really looking, yanked out the first shirt and pair of pants she found.

**In fact, why do I not remember much of anything from last night?**

Jumping around on one foot as she pulled on the dark, surprisingly soft pants, wondering why she was having such a hard time getting the shirt over her head, Devía reached for her black paraprofessional robes that someone had thoughtfully left, impeccably folded, at the foot of her bed with her wand sitting on top, still in her strangely enervated state.** Probably the house elves, how sweet of them… **

Devía flung open her door, shoved her wand into her side pocket, and staggered into the Upperclassmen Head's common room, throwing on the robes in a half-awake drunkenness. Her neck had begun to throb, though, and despite her initial bliss she now felt like either a building had fallen on her head or a thestral had run her down.

She was, unfortunately, all too familiar with both of the sensations.

**And I'm normally _such_ a morning person. **Something, something weird had happened to her, but her mind didn't seem to be functioning at the moment. **All right, think, Devía, think. Last night. Common room, Ginny, wandering the hallways… But **why** was I wandering the hallways…?**

Devía heaved a huge yawn, covering her mouth daintily with one hand, blinking as bright rays of early morning sunshine streamed through the common room's vaulted, ceiling-high eastern windows. "God, I look like hell," she groaned, her voice still thick with sleep as she jerked to a halt in front of a fancy, silver-plated mirror hanging tastefully on the wall beside the portrait hole. She sighed in relief when it didn't comment back on her appearance, and she agitatedly remembered another mirror she had once owned. **Thank _God_ I took the time to break that damn thing—**

"Merlin, love! I would have _never_ believed it possible!"

—**and got something ten times worse.**

The very sound of Alec's voice ringing out cheerfully that early in the morning caused Devía to cringe. Its flowing, melodic, perfect mixture of huskiness and harmony may have had the ability to attract every other female on the planet, but after hearing it on a daily basis for nearly nineteen years, that same voice almost guaranteed _her_ a headache.

"And what is that?" she growled out, glancing at the slightly shaggy but perfectly windswept-haired brunette as he strolled out of his own bedroom.

Alec came up behind her and examined her reflection in the mirror critically. "You almost look _ugly_."

Devía bit back a sharp retort and rolled her eyes instead, re-examining her tousled likeness and tossing her apple cinnamon hair over her shoulder. "Well, don't get used to it, _darling_, because it took a very long time to get right."

Letting out that annoyingly attractive chuckle of his, Alec wrapped his hand around the back of Devía's neck and used it to turn her around. She was too tired to put up a proper protest, and Alec easily steered her into the nearest puffy armchair. "After your second late night in a row, I think you need some work, love."

Devía's mouth automatically opened in another humongous yawn, but when Alec whipped out a makeup bag, she froze, a small smile shooting to her face. **I am not even going to _ask_ where you got that. **

Devía instinctively closed her eyes as Alec bounced down to her level on his haunches and patted foundation over her face. He was muttering good-naturedly, "Someday when you decide to become un-immune to other people's spells, I've got this remarkable little book of professional cosmetic charms that would take about _half_ the time this does…."

"And I would thank you not to broadcast that to the entire school…" Devia's smile suddenly turned upside down as what Alec had said a few moments before finally registered. "What do you mean, 'after my late night'?"

"Ummm…." Alec intently studied her face like an avid painter studies a blank canvas before he attacks it with a paintbrush. "Well, love, I don't know about you, but finding someone passed out cold and snoring to beat the band in the middle of a corridor on the fifth floor at two in the morning fits my idea of a late night. I thought you were dead before I heard you sawing a log."

"Hey!" Devía's eyes flew open, and she whacked him on the shoulder; he ducked away from her, laughing. "I do _not_ snore!" **So, I _was_ on the fifth floor. And _Alec_ was the one who brought me up here. Wow. That was actually rather _thoughtful_ of hi— **

**Good Merlin. How did I get into my pajamas? **

"Yeah?" Alec smirked as he dipped the mascara brush in its tube and swirled it around to coat it. "Tell that to half the house elves population, love. They had some sort of amphitheater set up around you when I finally found you. Bags of whatever they eat for entertainment were scattered all over the floor. Popcorn everywhere. Honestly, there were about thirty of the little buggers sitting there 'oooooing' and 'ahhhing' whenever you let out a good one."

Devía sputtered. She had just shrunk away from Alec in mock fear as he brandished the mascara brush when she heard the portrait hole slide open. "Who…who is it!" she called, still laughing hard, still not having the slightest idea of the previous nights' events. **And _how_ did I fall _asleep_ on the fifth floor? I didn't go out there _that_ late!**

**Did I?**

"It's me!" Tonks' now-familiar voice echoed throughout the room, and her spiky, now violet-haired head appeared by the entrance. "Devía, I need to talk to you about that blasted thestral…" When she saw Alec poised over Devía, the mascara brush hovering over one yet-unmade eye, she grinned, her eyes sparkling mischievously. "Hey, you two. Hope I'm not… interrupting something…"

Devía's mouth dropped open indignantly. "You most certainly are _not_—"

"Oh, quite all right, quite all right," Alec crowed genially. Quite the multi-tasker, he quickly cut Devía off by slathering a tube of glossy lipstick over her lips with his left hand, putting the finishing touches on Devía's eyes with his right. He absently waved Tonks over with the lipstick hand as he pawed through the cosmetic bag. "It's good you're here, T-Bird, I need your help."

**Ah, well, whatever it was, it must not have been that important.**

Tonks ambled closer to the pair, her long royal blue robes brushing the ground over a pair of comfortable-looking tennis shoes. She leaned her right shoulder against the wall beside Devía's armchair, confusion and amusement flashing across her eyes. "_T-Bird_?"

Alec emerged from the bag grinning fiendishly, triumphantly holding up a container of rouge. It was, apparently, the crowning achievement of his morning. "Well, I can't very well call you Tonks, can I?"

Crossing her arms, Tonks stared down at him, another teasing smile spreading across her face. "And why not?"

Alec's hand and the poofy rouge brush halted midway to Devía's face. He turned his whole body up toward Tonks, incredulously squinting at the Metamorphagus in such a way one would think Tonks had announced that she and Umbridge had decided to go to the Russian ballet together. "Woman, are you _mad_? _Everyone_ calls you Tonks! Our _teaching comrades_ call you Tonks! The _students_ call you Tonks! _Umbridge_ calls you Tonks," he added distastefully after a second thought, and he involuntarily wrinkled his nose and curled his lip as if he had smelled something bad.

"Oh, and of course you _have_ to be different, Alec darling," Devía chortled and plucked the rouge brush from Alec's still-outstretched right hand, lightly brushing the pink dust over her cheeks herself. "Do you know that a T-Bird is the name of a muggle car?"

Alec's latte eyes shot over to gape at Devía in disbelief. "Muggles _name_ their _cars_?" He shook his head condescendingly. "What was it I kept telling you for five years, love? That all your friends were barking mental?"

Devía playfully shook her head in resignation and covered her smile. Alec, on the other hand, unexpectedly let out a strangled whimper and dug past his robes into his back pants pocket, pulling out several sheets of balled up, wrinkled parchment. He reached over Devía's head and shoved them into Tonks' hand. "_Read_ these."

Devía traded Alec the poofy brush for the hairbrush and yanked it jaggedly through her smooth cascade of waves, working it through the tangles. She couldn't help but find herself curiously studying the backs of the papers, though. "What're those?"

Alec lifted up his pointer finger, signaling Devía to wait as Tonks flipped through the stack, emitting several successive snorts. She eventually slapped the papers back in Alec's hand, her shoulders shaking as she held back laughter. "These are about the _tackiest_, _sappiest_ love letters I have _ever_ read!"

"Let me see them!" Devía exclaimed, snatching up a few slips from Alec. She tilted one of them toward the sunlight and read slowly, "…. 'You can teach me arithmetic, I've heard it was your mission; you can kiss me once and kiss me twice and say, "Now, that's addition"— ' " Devía choked and her dark eyebrows shot up disbelievingly at Alec.

"Yeah, yeah, you can shut up, love." Alec's scowl at Devía was followed by a frantic expression, which as it was only caused Devía to crack up once more. "Half the female population at this desperate and obviously sexually deprived school is driving me up the bloody wall!"

"Make that, like, the _entire_ female population, Al," Devía said with a wicked grin as she curled up into the armchair, continuing to shift through more flowery notes. She held one flashing, neon pink heart up in front of his dismayed face. "Aw, how sweet, _darling_, this one's from a _second_ year. If you don't remain _chaste_ about this entire situation I will personally _murder_ you."

"Yeah, Al, you're, like, so hot!" Tonks quipped impishly, popping a piece of bubble gum into her mouth and beginning to chew, the corners of her eyes still wrinkled in delight.

"No, no, no, now wait," Alec held up his hands to catch Tonks' and Devía's attention. He scooted up onto the edge of the short coffee table in front of Devía's armchair, leveling a solitary finger at Tonks. "I have come prepared with an _extraordinary_ plan in which _you_ play a key role."

Tonks suspiciously surveyed her scheming colleague and glanced down at Devía's completely amused amethyst eyes. "Should I be afraid?"

"There's no doubt in my mind," Devía laughed. "You should, be very, _very_—"

Alec shot Devía such a dirty look, another short laugh tumbled from her mouth, and she hid her glowing face with the cosmetic bag. He waved his hand at her in an annoyed fashion as if he was trying to shoo her away and continued in a matter-of-fact voice, "Alright, T-Bird, pay attention, because here it is." Tonks stopped chuckling and feigned a serious expression, but her glittering bluish-plum eyes gave her away as Alec continued, "I've been thinking, and I have concluded that since _you're _an utterly _breathtaking_ professor, and _I'm_ a _devilishly_ good-looking one if I do say so myself—"

Devía listened in a mixture of fascination and disbelief, not having the slightest idea where this conversation was leading.

"Stop the flattery, Professor Smart, and tell me what you want." A thin eyebrow had arched on Tonks' face the moment Alec had mentioned her, obviously wondering the same thing Devía was, and she began to blow a huge bubble with her gum.

"—and _neither_ of us is seeing anyone, _I_ figure…. we should pretend to go out with each _other_!" Alec finished with a dramatic flourish of confidence and absolute lack of subtly as only Alec could, grinning enthusiastically like Tonks couldn't possibly refuse him.

**Whoa, _totally_ did _not_ expect that.**

_POP_! Tonks' bubble burst rudely. Her hair had begun to rapidly change colors, swirling from a placid purple to bright green to neon pink to scarlet red, and she began choking on the gum. Devía was actually becoming concerned for Tonks' health when she heard the Metamorphagus swallow the gum and gasp for air. **Well, thank God that crisis didn't progress, Alec would have jumped right in to give her mouth-to-mouth…**

"From my… _very_ extensive observations," Alec continued, oblivious, "inter-professional relationships—inter-teacher-student if you take mini-Umbridge and Zabini into account— seem to be completely legal here, and it'll save us _both_ the trouble."

Devía's mouth fell open, and Alec reached over and gently pushed it closed without really even looking at her, winking at Tonks. "Well, my lovely little T-Bird, what do you say?"

Tonks' other eyebrow had shot up in complete shock, and she actually leaned on the top of Devía's comfy chair for support. "Save us both the _trouble_?"

Alec calmly pressed his fingertips together in a position akin to a Stars Wars Jedi knight and shook his head, clucking, "T-Bird, T-Bird. We can _both_ agree that we don't want psychopathic adolescent stalkers hanging off us."

"_We_?" Tonks echoed, an '_Ohhhhh no, _you don't' expression on her face. She too was shaking her head furiously, but for completely different reasons. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe the only recipient of the sentimental love letters is _you_, and I don't exactly feel like being cornered and diced by the Professor Smart fan club, either."

Tonks suddenly halted her tirade, staring with an unreadable expression at Devía's roguish co-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. After a moment of silence, interrupted only by an occasional giggle from Devía as she noticed another utterly tactless note from Alec's admirers, Tonks tilted her head to the right a smidge, biting her lip. Devía was so certain that Tonks would never accept Alec's proposal, she missed the conflicted edge in the Transfiguration professor's voice. "You weren't joking when you said you had this all planned out, were you? I'm both impressed and disturbed."

"Hey, I'm not called Smart for nothing," Alec said absently, yawning, coming across more relaxed than Devía had ever seen him be. He abruptly stretched out on the coffee table, folding his hands behind his head and gazing thoughtfully up at the vaulted ceiling. He continued to muse, "We would have to make it convincing…. Play it up a bit, if you know what I mean…."

**Please excuse me while I go _throw up_—Huh?** Devía's eyes snapped up to Tonks' pretty, heart-shaped face in utter astonishment when she heard Tonks breathe, a bit glassy eyed, "Oh, I know what you mean…."

**WHAT?** Devía disgustedly watched Tonks lock eyes with Alec, saw Alec throw a flirty half-grin and another wink back at Tonks. **Ahhhhh! The Love Machine has struck again! Et tu,Tonks, et tu? **

Groaning and dumping the cosmetic bag on Alec's lap, Devía climbed out of the poofy armchair, not sure how much more of the googly-eyes she could take. **God, what is the matter with this school? Everywhere I look, people are either flirting or hooking up or _snogging_—**

**Snogging.**

Devía had made it halfway to the portrait hole when she staggered and almost crashed into the wall, the wrongfully delicious memory of Harry's lips on hers assaulting her mouth.

**OH MY DEAR LORD.**

…………**LATER THAT DAY………….**

Until that week, Devía had never actually believed that another person could be in the same building, same _room_ with her and not be visible. Harry, however, seemed to have completely disappeared off the face of the planet. Devía had gone through breakfast, lunch, and dinner that day and still hadn't caught sight of him. As she and Alec made their way from the Great Hall to the Upperclassmen common room after a rousing dinner with a steamy new couple, she was beginning to wonder whether Harry had actually died.

"And can you believe it, love?" Alec was saying excitedly, moving his hands in sync with the rise and fall of his voice, "I asked her to go carrot top and she _did_! Say what you will, but no_thing_ will _ever_ compare to those long, luscious, redheaded vixens."

Devía shook her head and smiled to herself, sticking her wand in the pocket of her robe. "Don't worry, darling, I wasn't about to argue with you. I still can_not_ believe you did that to Tonks." The torch lights' glow lit the dim, deserted first floor corridor and gave the cold stone walls a warm, surprisingly homey atmosphere, but Devía made a sharp left turn into dusk as she headed for the stairs.

"The only one I saw complaining was you, love," Alec retorted unconcernedly, pulling out a few of the love letters he had folded in his pocket and ripping them up into tiny shreds, gradually throwing the pieces like confetti over his shoulder as he walked.

"That's because you were too busy massaging her face with your mouth to hear her screaming inside her head—and will you stop _littering?_!" Devía exclaimed exasperatedly. She grabbed his wrist and shook it vigorously. "Do you _want_ to destroy the planet?"

"Oh, no, she liked it, love, I could tell." Alec wriggled his hand out of her grasp and smiled dryly. "And if saving the planet's your concern, might I suggest that you refrain from stalking me like a jackal, jumping on me whenever I dump perfectly decomposable paper on the ground, and instead spend a _lot_ more of your time and energy on finding Voldemort?"

Devía sobered. It occurred to her that flipping out about kissing Harry seemed so much more superficial compared to the other menace that loomed on the horizon like a growing storm. **No, no, no!** She suddenly corrected herself furiously. **_He _kissed _me!_**

**But you liked it, **that annoying little voice in the back of her mind nagged smugly, she and Alec finally reaching the column of giant moving staircases. **You liked it a _whole_ lot—**

**STOP IT! **

"Oi! G'day, professors!" Terry's cheerful voice suddenly rang out from behind them, jolting Devía back from Thoughtland. Alec gladly stopped his smooth gait, one foot poised on the first step. He turned and delightedly waved for Terry, Ginny, and Luna to catch up from halfway back down the hall. Luna was lagging behind Ginny and Terry, toting a rather large stack of books. Watching her puff along, Devía felt a strange pang as more familiar five-year-former memories of Hogwarts briefly returned. Ginny, however, gave Devía a bright, secret grin as the group approached.

"Feeling a bit Down Under-ish today, Terry?" Devía lightly asked the good-humored young man, shoving the recollections from her mind and returning Ginny the smile and a friendly, knowing wink.

"Every day is a day down under," Terry quipped impishly, briskly sweeping past Alec and Devía and heading up the staircase. "Let's go before this thing moves again."

"I second that," Ginny agreed, bounding energetically past Devía to exaggeratedly link arms with Terry, and the couple paraded up the staircase.

"Thanks for waiting, I really appreciate it!" Luna hollered after them. She didn't seem to be especially nonplussed, though, and she shifted the pile of books she was carrying to her right hip, trotting up the steps between Devía and Alec.

Alec, meanwhile, glanced down at the straggling Luna and suddenly narrowed his eyes. Without a second thought, he plucked the stack of books right out of her hands and slung them effortlessly under one arm, muttering, "And where is that hulking watchtower you call your boyfriend when you need him?"

Luna grinned at him happily. "Thanks, professor. I apologize on behalf of those two for interrupting your obviously scholastic conversation, by the way," she said ruefully to Devía, nodding up at Ginny and Terry.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Devía told Luna. "On the contrary, we were discussing…" Devía trailed off before she could say 'Voldemort'**. Let's see, we were discussing how Alec likes his women, why we shouldn't litter, how the deadliest man in the world has suddenly become undead…..**

"Santa," Alec said suddenly.

Devía shook her head, tossed her apple cinnamon hair over her shoulder, and wrinkled her nose at Alec. **I cannot believe that boy.** He tilted his chin back over the top of Luna's dirty blond head to catch Devía's eye and shrugged innocently at her, lifting his free hand as if to ask, '_What_?'

"And what did you decide about Santa?" Terry called down from a few steps above. He and Ginny had stopped so Devía, Alec, and Luna could catch up, when the staircase they were on jolted and begin to slowly move toward a new docking hall, rotating across the great void between the walls of the giant stairwell.

**Whoa**! Devía quickly reached out and grabbed the smooth marble railing. **Great. I get a chance to find Harry and straighten things out and there's a detour.**

After a moment, she regained her balance and remembered Terry's Santa question. She cocked her head at Alec interestedly, nodding her head at him slightly, a small grin on her face. **Good luck with this one, big boy**. "Come on, Al, in the words of our dear Sevvie Snape, we wait with bated breath." **For both your creative answer and for the stairs to stop moving.**

Had he been younger, Devía would have expected him to stick his tongue out at her, but instead Alec merely shot her a sour look and then did his Jedi hand pose, gazing at the moving ceiling far above, still holding Luna's ton of books. Devía became rather concerned when a wicked smile speedily spread across his uplifted face.

"Well," he began slowly, as if setting out the bait before reeling in the fish, leveling his mischievous latte colored eyes on Terry and Ginny, "I've always thought that Santa is a little bit like the devil, myself."

**Oh _Lord_. **Devía threw her hands up in the air and immediately focused all her attention on the direction that the staircase was moving. She was briefly drawn away from Alec as she noticed they seemed to be headed toward a dark, one-way exit hallway that looked like it hadn't been walked through in years. **Well, as long as there's not a three-headed dog somewhere at the end…**

"Really?" Terry laughed, intently following Alec's words as if he idolized the man. "Carry on."

**Yeah, you would find that interesting. _Men_.**

"I mean, think about it," Alec continued, his voice gaining momentum as he weaved more of the story into existence, "He dances around in a little red suit. He comes in through the _fire_place in the dark when everyone else in the house is asleep. His reindeer have horns."

By now the staircase was slowing down, Terry was pumping his head up and down like he actually agreed with Alec's cockamamie argument, Ginny was laughing hysterically, and even Luna was fighting to hide a smile. "You know," Alec continued to muse thoughtfully, "it seems to me that the main reason Santa is so jolly in the first place is because he knows where all the naughty girls live."

"Haha, that's _great_!" Terry exclaimed gleefully, amicably hitting his fist against Alec's and cracking up. "The guys are going to _love_ that."

Ginny elbowed Devía from the stair above and leaned down, bringing her lips right up against Devía's ear and whispering delightedly, "_Hermione_! Where did you _find_ this guy? He's positively _adorable_!

Devía choked and covered a grin with her hand in spite of herself, shoving Ginny playfully in the shoulder as the staircase shuddered and merged with the ancient, foreboding hallway. "By the way, five points to you, Alec darling, that one was _original_." She turned back to the suspiciously cob webbed, drippy, gaping hole of darkness before them before them. "Well, everyone, I guess this is our stop."

"Looks rather creepy, doesn't it?" Ginny asked warily as the stairway shuddered again. She crossed her arms nervously, twirling a lock of layered, silky auburn hair around her finger. "Anyone feel like doing the old retracing our steps trick?"

From his spot in the back of the group, Alec craned his neck around and glanced in the direction they had come. "Not unless that trick includes long jumping the great divide, red."

"Huh?" Ginny twisted to one side and peered around Devía. "What—hey!" She exclaimed as the bottom half of the massive staircase slowly rotated across the huge hollow column and found a new entrance, clear across the gulf from where the group had begun to climb.

Devía sighed and stared skeptically down the abandoned hall, completely black except from a few wisps of light that streamed in through some small chinks in the walls. "That settles that, then." She cautiously treaded her way past Ginny and Terry, stepping out onto the dirty stone floor, pulling her wand from her hand and muttering "_Lumos_," so its tip emitted a brilliant white light. "Let's go. I've long since figured out that every place in this school has more than one way out if you look for it."

"Yeah, well, let's find this hallway's other way out fast," Luna said shortly. She started forward hurriedly, reaching over and grabbing a hefty book off the pile Alec was carrying as she did.

Alec dodged a dusty, massive spider web that actually stretched from the dank floor to the damp ceiling, and he wiggled his eyebrows at Luna teasingly. "Couldn't live without it for five minutes, could you, bookie?"

"Hey!" Luna laughed in a strangely high pitch voice and gripped the book tightly in one hand, looking prepared to knock someone out with it if it came down to that. She stalked ahead rigidly. "You'd be surprised at how many ways an at-first innocent looking book can come in handy."

"_Amen_," Devía muttered absently from her spot in the front with a small 'You go, Luna!' grin. Alec snorted amusedly and reached over, whacking her shoulder with another of Luna's books. "Take that, love."

A steady DRIP DRIP DRIP and the occasional _whoosh_ of a distant wind was all the five could hear as they guardedly kept going.

"Ron would be afraid to see the spider that made that," Ginny remarked in what she was obviously trying to pass off as an unconcerned voice, tilting her head back at the huge spider web they had passed, shivering as a sudden rush of icy air whirled past them, rustling their hair and blowing it backward. "This is _exactly_ the kind of place where you'd expect to find…. _booby traps_ and the sort… You know, the kind of creepy _sharp_ stuff that just _comes_ out of _nowhere_ and…. _cuts_ off your head—"

"_Ginny_!" Devía exclaimed, smiling lightly and whirling around, shaking her wand at the surprised redhead. "Do us all a favor and keep the imagination in check!"

"In other words, Gin, shut up," Terry murmured into Ginny's ear as the last bit of light emitting from the stairway behind them vanished in the blink of an eye, the only remaining light shining from Devía's wand.

Ginny rolled her hazel eyes and elbowed him sharply, her actions a cross between being freaked out and being her energetic self. "_Prat_! I'm going to tell Ron about—"

"Sssssh!" Devía said suddenly, tensely holding up a hand. "I hear something."

"And when she hears something, she hears something," Alec muttered to himself. He nudged Ginny with his hip, "Professor coming through, professor coming through…." Shoving his way to the front, he came up alongside Devía and cocked his head intently. Finally, he nodded ahead and asked in a quiet voice Devía never expected him capable of, "Up there?"

Devía stabbed her lighted wand forward into the black abyss and nodded in agreement. "Second locked, ancient wooden door on the left." She paused for a moment, then titled her head back toward Terry, Ginny, and Luna. "Wait here, guys, we'll be right back."

"Famous last words," Terry muttered gloomily, crossing his arms nervously as Devía and Alec's light moved away, leaving the trio in utter darkness. Ginny let out a muffled shriek and kicked him, putting a hand on her on wand edgily, and Luna's knuckles around her book were turning white.

The voices were muffled but Devía was sure that that was what they were, human voices. She motioned with her head and Alec was beside her, his hand softly on the doorknob.

"No, wait," she muttered faintly, bouncing down on her haunches and leaning her ear up against the crack between the door and the doorframe. Devía's stomach was doing tiny flips, but at least she could still think clearly without fear; her somewhat turbulent past five years had at least gifted her with that ability. She frowned, the voices still unclear, and nestled her ear even closer against the door.

And suddenly, as if there was a break in the clouds, every word spoken on the other side of the door became crystal clear.

"How am I supposed to find out anything if I don't see him half the time?" an annoyed, oddly familiar female voice was whining. "And when I do, he doesn't even talk. He sits there and broods, and let me be the first to tell you, that is not a great conversation-maker. This is starting to look ridiculous…No, it does. _It. looks. ridiculous_, and I can _guarantee_ you that people are beginning to wonder why I haven't dumped the self-righteous jerk yet."

Devía frowned again and glanced up at Alec in confusion, but he shook his head in an 'I don't know.' He had taken her idea and was standing over her crouched form listening to the same exchange, ear pressed to the crack higher up the doorframe.

"What other people think does not matter, what matters is that you find out what we want to know. If you do not succeed, we will find another way," a deeper, definite male voice intoned sharply. "You'll have your chance to finish this soon. We all will. We are close, closer than anyone would ever expect. Weeks, even. Before anyone even realizes what has happened, we will have our revenge, and they will all be utterly powerless against us. He will never survive our first onslaught."

"He doesn't even look at me anymore—not that he ever really did," the woman's voice snapped bitterly.

**Good Merlin, why do I know this voice? Who is it? **

The hair on the back of Devía's neck suddenly rose and prickled, and she got the chilling sensation that she was being watched, somehow. She was so wrapped into the conversation, though, that she couldn't bring herself to tear her ear away from the door.

"Did I mention, he has a new pastime now?" The woman drawled in that whiny voice. "He does. He spends hours positively _drooling_ over that bloody _magical royal_ like every other male in this _stupid_ school—"

"Hm, Professor Delaveger, is it?"

**Crap! **Devía and Alec both jumped in shock at the unsettlingly amused voice behind them and spun around. Devía, still kneeling, her heart pounding, instinctively shoved her wand out in front of her, the light from its luminosity still shining; Alec threateningly held up the pile of books he was still juggling.

**Damn, I should have looked the first time. **

Because the light shone right onto the razor sharp face of Professor Selena Umbridge.

A tiny, half smirk crept onto Selena's porcelain skinned, chiseled features, as if she was pleased at the startled reaction she had gotten out of them, and she brushed her long, diagonally cut, shiny, black, smooth bangs to one side of her long face. Her dark eyes slowly shifted from Devía to Alec, taking in the whole package, her voice rolling gravelly, "I don't recall ever being formally introduced to your. charming friend."

The first thought that popped into Devía's mind was,** She is _exactly_ like an evil Demi Moore!**

"That's because we haven't been," Alec returned in a smooth but hard voice that Devía had never once heard him use before. "Professor Smart, Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Devía stood up cautiously, half-straining to hear that conversation beyond the ancient door, but the voices had ceased. If the man and woman inside hadn't been alerted of eavesdroppers before, they certainly had been now. With any more listening opportunity shot to hell, Devía's heart finally returned to a relatively normal pace, but she still had not completely lowered her wand, noticing that Alec didn't offer Selena his hand. The fast but positively acidic, hated glare that Selena sent Alec didn't get past Devía, either. **Yeah, I bet you wanted that job at some point in your life.**

"Hmm, yes, that's right, I've seen you around." Selena nodded, her face lighting up as if just remembering, and she took a step away from Alec and Devía, standing in the middle of the bleak hallway so she could have a better view of them both. "Just today, in fact, I believe I saw you slobbering all over that freakishly multi-haired vamp before lunch."

Alec's eyes grew darker, and he also made a '_What_ are you _on_?' face to match, looking about ready to take up Luna's books himself and began chucking them in systematic motion at Selena. "Are you calling _Tonks_ a _slut_?"

Selena shrugged, that self-satisfied, cocky expression never leaving her eyes. "Your words, not mine."

**Who are you trying to fool? This is _Tonks_ we're talking about, you moronic woman! **

Needless to say, Devía was impressed that Alec didn't all-out tackle Selena. Instead, he rolled his tongue roughly over his lips, a habit he had gotten into when he was thinking of a good comeback. He finally said suavely, in a dangerously calm voice, "Then maybe she should get some fashion tips from you." He eyed Selena from top to bottom, and a small smirk that rivaled Selena's in intention spread across his face. "You look like shit. Is that the style now?"

Devía's mouth dropped open, and she quickly covered her shocked expression by clearing her throat and coughing loudly. **I never thought I would say this, but _go Alec_.**

Selena's eyes narrowed darkly, obviously not expecting a blatant response like that from either of them, and she spat out, "Listen, _Smart_, I didn't come here to argue with you all night about some _twit_; I'm here with a proposition for you, Devía."

**Oh, so we're on a first name basis now, are we? **

To act like a Slytherin was not at all in Devía's nature, her placement in Gryffindor had attested to that, but five years of the real world had given her the ability to be brutal if she had to be, and right now that fact was surprisingly comforting. She arched an eyebrow, stuck her wand in her pocket, and motioned forward with one hand. "Alright, I'm intrigued. Please continue. _Selena_."

Selena's shady eyes intently studied Devía's face at this remark, but she continued in her snooty, low voice, "First, I understand you and Blaise had a little bit of a row last night."

**Yeah, and you two were made for each other, I can see that already. **

"Apparently, you've got the right sources," Devía returned coolly, wondering exactly what Selena's proposition for her would be, only vaguely aware of Ginny, Terry, and Luna's presence a few meters away, silently watching the exchange.

"In that case, I would like to apologize for him," Selena said briskly. "He tends to act like a rude child with an improper upbringing, and he should know better than to say the things he does."

**I bet you don't tell him that when you two are _snogging_.**

"With that being said, I am offering you a position. The Minister of Magic has requested an official mediator between Hogwarts and his Ministry office—only on authorized business, you understand; more specifically, when my mother is not available to attend, which is not likely to happen very often. My mother and I have spoken at great length and agreed upon you as best choice."

**Oooo, I'm flattered.**

Devía was also curious. She hadn't been at the top of her class for the four years she had attended Hogwarts for nothing. Better to know her enemy, and know them well. "And what would this…._official mediator position_, as you called it, entail?"

Selena strolled casually in a half circle around Devía and Alec as she spoke. "You would be paid 1,000 galleons on a monthly basis regardless of the number of meetings or lack thereof, no questions asked. You would deal directly with the Minister, and only with the Minister. There is no red tape, no bureaucratic static you have to fight through to share your concerns about students, your thoughts, your stories, your experiences. Think of it, Devía. The minister wants to be in the know about all of his most _important_ students, particularly the Upperclassmen; know their strengths and weaknesses so he can properly assess a proper career for them at the ministry—"

Unexpectedly, the words of the whiny voice and the sinister voice behind the door came back to Devía. '_How am I supposed to find out anything if I don't see him half the time…._' '…_If you do not succeed, we will find another way….'_

"—You could be the sole voice of this school, Devía, the singular and most important voice the Minister hears when making his decisions concerning education and the future of our graduating students!"

"_AH-CHOOOO_!" Alec suddenly sneezed obnoxiously. Selena's dark eyes narrowed so much they appeared as no more than slits, and she slowly turned her head toward Alec, but he innocently held up his free hand and leaned back against the doorframe. "I-I'm sorry, lady, I'm allergic to bullshit."

An outbreak of laughter was muffled from Ginny, Terry, and Luna's direction, but both Devía and Selena glanced toward the noise sharply. Selena managed to drag her glittering, killer eyes off Alec long enough to light her wand and shine it to her left.

"_Students_?" she hissed venomously, and the trio actually shrunk backward, trying to blend back into the darkness that they had initially been afraid of, Luna's book now dangling limply in her hand.

"Yes, _students_," Devía said coldly, on edge now. This time she unregretfully reached for her wand, not concerned for herself, but for her friends. "They're with me. I suggest you return to the topic at hand and leave them alone."

"And don't sound so surprised, this is a school, after all, and students tend to be roaming the hallways in search of adventure," Alec commented to Selena, rolling his eyes and acting far more relaxed than the situation probably called for. "_Idiot_."

This time, when Selena angrily swung back around to face Alec, she didn't put her wand away, but held it up in one poised, lethally elegant hand. "I wouldn't be talking, smart ass," she snidely sneered.

"Better to be a smart ass than an idiot," Alec shot back mildly.

"_DON'T_… _even_," Devía interrupted quickly before an all-out firefight began. She had pointed her supple, mahogany wand straight at Selena when the woman's eye had twitched and her mouth had opened to yell a curse, and she stepped in front of Alec protectively, her amethyst eyes staring furiously at Selena.

"You approach me in the middle of a dark, abandoned corridor, one which I doubt is _ever_ frequented by _any_ kind of life form except spiders, with this supposedly scholastic, _virtuous_ opportunity, then you openly _insult_ my friends and look ready to attack my students. I hope you don't expect me to actually _accept_ your little peace offering or whatever you think it is. This conversation is over, _Selena_. We'll be seeing you."

With a pointed 'Do _not_ argue with me' glance at Alec, Devía pocketed her wand and tried to walk past Selena, but all six feet of Selena sidestepped in front of her, her tone of voice totally changing direction, become sickly sweet, mockingly dangerous.

"Did you just _refuse_ my perfectly _honest_ proposition, Devía? Did Blaise tell me right when he said that _you_, a professor, _threatened_ his _life_ last night?" Selena leaned forward, a wicked smile spreading across her face, and continued in a quieter voice that only Devía could comprehend, "Did I hear correctly that _Harry Potter_ has a _thing_ for you? And that _you_ aren't complaining?"

"Yes, no, hell no, and shut up," Devía snapped brusquely, wondering whether turning around or just walking through Selena would produce more pointed results. "And if you think you've got the goods to blackmail me, you are _sorely_ mistaken."

Like twin lumps of glittering coal, Selena's eyes bored into Devía's. She knew that she was, literally, the only thing standing between Devía, Devía's friends, Devía's exit, and Devía's bed, and Devía Delaveger was not a person to get angry. But, then again, neither was Selena Umbridge. "I wonder, Devía, if you might be able to consider my second proposition more seriously than you considered my first."

Devía sighed, cocked her head to the right in irritation, and asked in as placid a voice as she could summon, "And what proposition might that be, Selena?"

The smug smirk that emerged on Selena's face could have beaten even the Grinch who stole Christmas. "Tomorrow night. 7:15 pm. The Great Hall. No seconds."

**And so it begins.**

"I'll see you there." Devía finally slid around Selena's tall figure, her wand lighting the way back to civilization, back to the staircase which had hopefully moved to its original position by now, ignoring the panic in Ginny's anxious hazel eyes, the awe in Terry's shocked brown eyes, the admiration in Luna's impressed blue eyes, the annoyance in Alec' s irate café eyes. "And Selena? Don't be late."

Well aware of the cold stare that followed Alec, Ginny, Terry, Luna, and her as they retraced their steps toward the stairs, Devía saw Ginny flinch as Selena's rough voice echoed slyly after them. "May the best woman win."

"Oh, don't worry." Devía's wand followed her whole body as she gracefully snapped around in an about-face without even slowing her pace, eye to eye with Selena Umbridge for the last time that night. "I plan to."

**A/N**: Review, respond, questions, comments, whatever! I love hearing from you! Tell me what you think!

Peace out

Lady Moonglow


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